PNoy agrees to a grilling

 

By Raïssa Robles

In the last five years, no Philippine President has accepted an invitation to meet publicly with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) to be grilled.

Recently, President Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III agreed to meet with FOCAP, knowing full well no questions are off-limits.

Our historic date is this October 12, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at the Ballroom of Mandarin Hotel in Makati City. Lunch to follow.

Questions could range from the global to the personal. It all depends on how the forum unfolds and the mood of the moment.

FOCAP has met with all Philippine presidents starting with Ferdinand Marcos.

Afraid of the grilling, former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stopped meeting publicly with FOCAP after she said “I am sorry” when tapes surfaced where a voice like hers was heard asking an election official for assurance that she would win by a million votes.

During President Joseph Estrada’s time, a clip from a similar forum with FOCAP was entered into evidence during Estrada’s 2001 impeachment trial at the Senate.  Twink Macaraig, who was then with Channel News Asia, testified as to the veracity of the clip because it  was her crew that took the film footage.

There’s one thing I have to tell you about FOCAP’s meeting with PNoy, though.

Since we have to ensure FOCAP’s future viability, FOCAP members (like me) are required to pay for the coffee, snack and lunch and the venue. The forum is also a way for FOCAP to raise funds.

The public is welcome to watch PNoy up close and personal. To inquire about the event and the entrance fee, please call or text Hail Buenaventura at 0917 593 3543 or 394 0200 or email her at [email protected].

I know a P2,000 entrance fee is still a lot of money but you’d be paying more for a front seat at a pop concert.

And no, I don’t think we’ll be asking PNoy to sing. Well, not unless someone in FOCAP asks him to :)