Another one to the resume

A $20,000 dollar dinner is like Shrek was never treated as a subject of repulsion; Cinderella not having a midnight deadline to beat; or the big bad wolf befriending the 3 pigs. Perks of this magnitude are like gifts handed down from the heavens that could have given them happier endings. Yes, the president and her big entourage had a fairy tale dinner. The bad thing is, the ending was not as good as expected.

A week ago, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her companions went on a trip to the United States of America. In this particular trip, Arroyo and company had a dinner worth almost a million pesos at a restaurant called Le Cirque in New York City. This luxurious dinner got the whole country dropping their jaws in awe and the media buzzing like a pack of wolves about to hunt for a huge prey. Well, who would not? That kind of amount could feed thousands of poor families here in the Philippines. A million (well, almost) pesos can renovate old homes, buildings and classrooms or maybe build new ones.

Considering the crisis that has engulfed the country for like forever and the moods of the Filipino citizens after president Cory's death, having the meal of their lives and letting the whole world know about it was not a wise decision to say the least. She not only placed herself in the limelight but she is now in a situation where she might not finish her term or have heavier consequences after it.

Apparently, she once again added another one to a long list of controversies and conspiracies. Wait, I was mistaken. Let's make that a loooooooooooooong list. I can almost say that waiting for the 2010 elections is not a very good idea because everyone's in for a lengthy 7-8 months.

I learned in my Philosophy class that there is something called, 'negative ignorance'. It is the intentional negation of knowledge to combat ignorance. I believe the little woman has it.

BY RONDELL CHAZ MABUNGA