Philippine Senate Comedy Controversies: Mar Roxas and Nene Pimentel

The Senate of the Philippines is increasingly getting very politicized as the May 2010 Presidential Elections nears. Senators are once again starting to be at the center of controversies, comedy, and circus sessions, which they are in no position to be since session will end in a few days. Election season, though unofficially in COMELEC's calendars, has definitely started!

ROXAS: I have no insertion on any matter. In fact, I have no insertion, period because we were in the minority. Let alone an insertion for a road to pass through any such property.

PIMENTEL: Well, I’m sure that after your marriage you’ve had some insertions…

ROXAS: Mr. President, I demand that that be removed from the record. That is an affront on my wife!

PIMENTEL: Mr. President, I remove it immediately.

Now you wouldn't wonder why sooner (or maybe later), Senators will be needing boxing gloves and that the Senate of the Philippines will already have a boxing ring? Maybe then, Manny Pacquiao can run for the Senate already?

Senator Mar Roxas with Youth Leaders

As far as I remember, the first time I heard of Mar Roxas aspiring for "THE SEAT", for President, was when Kevin Ray Chua launched and rallied for the Mar Roxas for President in 2010 blog, which is #5 in the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2008, where my blog Manila Foodistas also won. This was different from the bloggers "soiree with Mar Roxas", which I was not part of. They intended to utilize the new media, particularly the Blogosphere, in order to advance their campaign during August last year.






Last night, youth leaders from different schools and localities gathered to listen to what Mar Roxas had to say, and get to question him on different issues and concerns of the youth of today. The crowd was made up of mostly UP Students, some of them were from Ateneo, DLSU, UST, and others.






This is my opinion (as objective and positive as possible). Yes, on the outside, Mar Roxas is a presence on stage, he can articulate and give his two cents and explain himself in a manner that you would listen and tend to genuinely believe him. He was fair enough in his speech. He is very knowledgeable about the present situation, political and social aspects of our society, and the context where we are in right now. But sadly, I found the "meet and greet" quite lacking and a bit of a disappointment. For starters, he didn't really elaborate and concretize on "The Role of the Youth in National Development" - the point of us being there.



I think that he should have used that opportunity to "address" the youth of today, and how they would "fall in the scheme of things" and how they could "act" collectively and individually, and tackle the pressing issues and problems of and about the youth, and the tangible and concrete solutions and projects he might think of with and for the youth (case in point, for the college students in attendance) and our country. I would love to hear and engage him for the second time, and hopefully in another forum or other fora.






As an aside, (this is where it manifests that I am a foodie) we were treated to a scrumptious dinner of pasta, BBQ, lumpia and rice. Drink all you can, then the beer (which we didn't drink). We had Dilly Bars right after (for the win)!






Right now, I can't say that I am endorsing Mar Roxas. I want to see all of them first, if possible talk to them, scrutinize their vision, platform and plans, then comes my decision. For now, it's premature for me to do so, given that he's the first one, among those who have "signified intention" for presidency, I met.



There will be more meetings with Mar, so I hope he'll redeem himself. Don't get me wrong, so far, I can see him as one of the best (slash) most probably candidate that would be rallied upon by people, but he has to really step up and shape up to get our vote. One thing's for sure, you must be critical, hear all sides, and you must have standards in "searching for our voice in 2010" :)









Technorati Tags: bong, superbong, brian ong, The Philippines and Beyond, Philippines, Mar Roxas, 2010 Elections, Philippine Elections, Role of the Youth in National Development, UP Students, Cubao Expo Centro, political forum, Philippine Politics, Youth Leaders, Senator Mar Roxas

Tokyo Cafe in Mall of Asia before heading to the Senate of the Philippines

First time I tried Tokyo Cafe, I was with fellow Foodistas Harrell and Joey in SM North Edsa. This time around I was with Barbie, Malin, Reg and Tenai for a supposed (well it was!) group lunch meeting for our policy analysis paper before heading to the Senate to meet Senator Aquino and Senator Roxas this time around.

Anyway, my friends would always like to leave it up to me to pick where we'll be eating (always! o.O) since they say I should know where it is best to eat, and to "use the Foodista in you." But little do they know, I really don't like deciding where to eat for a group of people - especially when it's an impromptu decision I have to do.

That fact aside, we ended up eating in Tokyo Cafe - one safe decision, I guess. :)

Mango Chicken Salad (Php 170) - Chicken salad, ripe mango, grapes and romaine lettuce

Shrimp Aglio Olio (Php 240) - Medium-spiced pasta with hot green peppers, garlic, and shrimp sautéed in olive oil

Kani Crab Sandwich

And a Chicken Burger (Sorry, I forgot what the name of this dish was) for Ms. Gepte

Over-all it was a little bit pricey, but the food was comforting. In the end, we added an extra order of french fries to satisfy everyone's craving (after we all devoured Reg and Tenai's plate of fries).

You can also visit Manila Foodistas' Restaurant Review | Tokyo Cafe for more information about this restaurant. :)