The smile he’ll leave behind

“Pussycat, Pussycat, where have you been? I’ve been to London to visit the queen.”Can we sing that to Manny Pacquiao, when he comes back from having that dinner with Prince Harry at Buckingham Palace?The news about that meeting also mentioned that Queen Elizabeth herself might join her grandson and Pacquiao, or maybe just show up, so our Pambansang Kamao can always recite that nursery rhyme whenever he is asked what he did in London.

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But if you see an enigmatic smile on Pacquiao’s face after he gets back from that dinner, you can speculate that he has some good reasons for sporting it.However, as prudent as usual, he is not saying what is topmost in his mind, nor are his promoters and sidekicks saying what is causing the Mona Lisa smile. Could it have something to do with the much-awaited and much deferred encounter with America’s undefeated one? The only clue we have now is that the MGM Grand in Las Vegas is said to be sprucing up for a big event in May or June.

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But if we are talking about smiles, haven’t you noticed what a charming and open smile our much-expected visitor, Pope Francis, has? In almost all the pictures of him published, he is seen smiling that infectious smile that is so characteristic of him.Will the smile remain in our line of vision even after he has left the country?Of course it will be irreverent to compare the Papal smile to that of the Cheshire cat of Alice in Wonderland, that remained even when the cat itself had disappeared.

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Meanwhile the excitement is really heating up for the coming of the Pope, and things may seem to be at a standstill tomorrow when he arrives in Manila.Already we have seen the coverages on his visit to Sri Lanka, but, no offense meant to the people there, but I am sure they could not muster a welcome such as the one Filipinos can give the Holy Father.By the way, Pope Francis will be our “third” Pope, that is, two others have visited our country before – Pope Paul VI, and Pope John Paul II, now a saint. Pope Paul VI has also been beatified and may soon be elevated to sainthood, too.While I am sad that I cannot see Pope Francis in person this time, I can at least comfort myself with the fact that I have seen, in person the two who had come earlier.Viva il Papa!

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Meanwhile, PAGASA has announced that the Low Pressure Area in the Pacific that is heading towards the Philippines has strengthened into a tropical depression.It also said that when it enters the Philippine area of responsibility, it will be given the name of “Amang.”Please naman, Amang, spare our country from your tantrums on these very special days. Please make a lie of Pagasa’s prediction that you will hit the Eastern Visayas, which is where the focus of this Papal visit is in, Tacloban, on its Big Day, Saturday.Let us all focus our prayers on being spared by Amang, and quote another nursery rhyme, “Rain, rain, go away, come again another day…” after the Pope has left our country.

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Another big event that is expected to happen during the visit of the Holy Father is the declaration of clemency, or pardon, to a big number of aging and ailing prisoners in the National Penitentiary, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has confirmed that she had already submitted the names of those eligible for clemency to the President.However, the latter had earlier said he would sign the recommendation and release the names while the Pope is in the country, as a “gift” to him.What a wonderful gift to human beings – forgiveness for misdeeds, and freedom.

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Of course the list will not include the name of an aging and also ailing senator who, after all, has not yet been convicted, and, for that matter, a former president who has been charged and is also detained, but not yet tried.So they may have to wait for another Papal visit to be given the privilege.Another advantage of pardoning the old and sick prisoners is that the spaces they will vacate will be needed for the many officials or former officials now facing all kinds of graft and corruption cases.

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It is both good news and bad news.The top cigaret production company in the country Philip Morris–Fortune Tobacco Corp., chafing from losses after the passage and implementation of the so-called “Sin Tax” law, has cried uncle and claims that it is producing and earning less nowadays. The bad news is that it is retrenching and dismissing 640 of its workers, and has already informed them about their fate. Well, that is the expected fall-out from the imposition of the tax that, after all, was intended to reduce harmful habits like drinking and smoking.Some have to suffer withdrawal, while others have to bite the bullet.*

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