The smoke not from inasal

So there was fire beneath the smoke that we saw. Remember when this column mentioned that there was talk going around about a plan to sell Manokan Country? We thought that was only “chismis” then, although it already alarmed us, because we are among the thousands of Bacoleños who are proud of Manokan, not only of its history, but of how it has developed into a unique tourist attraction to the city, to say nothing of the stallowners who had relied on it for their livelihood and had built the families and sent their children to school on it.

***

I still remember how many visitors from Manila and other parts of the Philippines and abroad who had come to Bacolod, asking to see and “experience” Manokan country. To them, the stalls themselves were the attractions of the place as they stressed its “nativeness” that added to the ambience. As the city administration has admitted the possibility of selling off this landmark, there no longer seems any doubt that a plan is afoot to sell the area along with it.

***

Oh, it is being claimed that the place will be modernized, etcetera, and there is even a plan presented of the proposed building that Manokan sellers will be allowed to occupy. All at higher rentals, of course, and this they should mark, after they have settled whatever they still owe in past rentals. Well, that is between them and the proponents who have very carefully and cleverly emphasized that this is an “unsolicited” offer. Unsolicited by which party? Anyway, what Bacolod can now look forward to is when they will say, with finality, “Goodbye, goodbye, Manokan Country!” Big business must have its way. Maybe the stall owners can go back to the sidewalks where they had originated, until then Mayor Digoy Montalvo and his administration gave them a place of their own to stay, that became Manokan Country.

***

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court should move faster on the issue of who is the rightful head of the Makati City government now to end the confusions among the employees, as well as the residents of the city. As of now, Vice Mayor and now acting mayor Romulo Peña continues to hold office at the old city hall, while Mayor Junjun Binay, who has managed to get the Court of Appeals to issue an injunction stopping his suspension by the Sandiganbayan, hangs on to his spanking new allegedly overpriced city hall. City workers are in a quandary, because there are documents involving their payments that should be signed by the vice mayor, but Peña tells them he is not that official now. Only the Supreme Court can resolve this one, and let us hope it does so very soon. It is not only the Binay Jr. case they will resolve, other similar situations will also benefit from its ruling on this.

***

While sports writers all over the country, ands, perhaps, even across the world, are concentrating on the trainings of both our Manny Pacquiao and the American Floyd Mayweather, some of the local ones have not forgotten to look up another colorful personality in his family for interviews. Yesterday a TV program focused on the incomparable Mommy Dionisia, who gladly obliged, even to the point of showing the media the outfit she is going to wear to the Las Vegas encounter.

***

As usual, Mommy D delighted her interviewers with her candid replies and pizzazz. Would you believe, she displayed a long terno in white, beaded and embellished with what I think are swarovski crystals that I am sure will make her look like a bride. She will surely make it to international TV if she repeats her gimmick after the second Pacquiao-Bradley fight when she went up the ring and tried to console the flabbergasted Bradley.

***

But I have my own personal story about Mommy D's presence - for the first time - in a Manny fight. As was Manny's practice then – he had not yet changed religion – we had holy mass at his quarters with a family friend, Fr. Marlon Beof, officiating. Mommy D came down wearing a long white long-sleeved lace dress, her face covered with very white powder, with no lipstick or rouge, her head covered with a white veil, and hugging a SantoNiño image. During the picture-taking, she called my four-year-old grandniece, Maia, who was with us, saying, “Come baby, picture kita,” and the child started to wail in fear.

***

But Mommy D managed to get her on her lap, and the picture later showed the baby, her mouth wide open as she yelled and struggled off. And that was also the fight when Mommy D had to be rushed to the hospital midway, because she began having palpitations, I heard later. She is really precious, Mommy D. Oh, and this time, she also announced that her boyfriend will be travelling with her to Vegas. I hope Floyd Senior does not see her and develop a crush on her. At least not before the fight.*

back to top