Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who is presiding over the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, proved more than equal to the task.

His very demeanor and his rulings on the issues brought out on the first day of the trial were reassuring. Even his advice to his fellow senator-judges as well as the prosecution and defense teams that the court will be guided by the Constitution, the applicable laws which, of course, include rulings of our own Supreme Court and precedents in countries such as the United States and UK where the impeachment cases maybe considered “classics”, the evidence as presented, and their own consciences was truly statesmanlike.

The nation can rest assured that under JPE’s watch, the Senate will prove yet again to be the well-regarded institution it used to be.

*  *  *

No, this is not an aside on the just announced PH brand “It’s More Fun In the Philippines”. Although I am told that the title of this piece which was whispered to us by sources at the Department of Tourism is another tag line proposed by the winning bidder, BBDO-Guerrero, and may in fact be used as part of the agency’s campaign. Another friend suggested that if such is the case then it maybe wise for the DoT to actually embark on a nationwide contest to get us ordinary folks to suggest pictures, tag lines, and anecdotes taking off from the original tag line itself.

For starters, he advised “Let’s Have Fun in the Philippines” with images of beaches, mountain climbing, biking groups, fiestas, and maybe even “food trips” to reinforce the message. That way we really engage the entire country and make tourism, as it should be, a real, people-oriented endeavor.

In any event, as I advised in an earlier column, instead of dwelling on the issue of the alleged plagiarized brand name why don’t we just make full use of it by injecting that witty and creative Filipino ingenuity into the entire score. But first let us make sure that we build up the infrastructure, both soft and hard, to ensure that we really have “more fun in the Philippines”. I mentioned in particular the case of our tourist guides who  are the ones in direct contact with the visitors.

I was advised and so I noted that one such guide, a certain  Celdran, who is doing the “Old Manila/Intramuros-Fort Santiago loop”, has been doing the country a real disservice by badmouthing the Catholic Church and injecting his prejudices into the presentation. I am told that his asides have been highly biased, less than factual, and inflammatory.

Apparently, there are a host of others who have been appalled by Celdran’s behavior, some of whom posted the following comments in the facebook account of Alvin Capino, my good friend and co-host in the radio show KARAMBOLA. I am reprinting the same, especially for Secretary Mon Jimenez’ attention:

“Marilou R. Barairo : The Fort Santiago walking tour with Celdran – the only bad memory we are taking back home with us. This supposedly your guide does not have a heart for the country he is representing and complete disrespect for the Philippine heritage – and he used the word “F” in his presentation. If he were doing this in another country, he would have been fired!!!”

“Noel Isberto : That is sad, a tourist guide ought to present the country in the best possible light (but not misrepresenting reality)..”

“Rachel Meneses Ponce : I don’t like his style as well ..he’s just full of theatrics but lacking in substance..paging DOT...there are many tourism graduates where are they I wonder...”

“Neny Marie Marchan Maloy : I guess you can do our country a favour by writing a letter to DOT on your experience or you might want to write your journalist friends..”

“Katarina Djordjevic : I think you should report him; he should be fired..”

“Ed Virtusio : We enjoyed and loved Fort Santiago while we visited the place. I think your tour guide is simply not happy with his job. Do him a favour by getting him fired LOL...”

“A. Marie V. Pascual : That’s sad Maloy. Because when we met him years ago, he was a good story teller..”

“Kenneth J. Marquez : I share Marie’s comment. Maybe he is a changed man after his stint behind bars..”

“Alvin Capino : He has so much hate in his heart it’s now beginning to show. Yeah, he used to conduct the most entertaining tour of Intramuros, Chinatown in the past but after he became the chief RH advocate he changed..”

“Oscar Picazo : Hmmm..His tour used to get raves..I haven’t taken it, but thanks for the warning..”

“Amie Rodriguez : Surprised he is still employed there??What an embarrassment to even consider him a kababayan..tsk..tsk..”

“Marilou R. Barairo : Thank you for all your comments..I just spoke with Rina David and repeated my observations to her after I learned fr Peachy n Noli Yamsuan that he a spokesperson for the RH bill and maybe that’s the reason why there is a general anti-Church overtone in his presentation..There shld be delineation of roles – is he the tourist guide at that time or an RH spokesperson? I’ve seen numerous tourist guides and always they conducted themselves with  dignity and decorum..I’m writing a letter to the DOT..I would hate him to lose his job but he should be re-trained..”