We got it wrong. PGMA did not fly with only Magnificent 7 solons. There were 28 congressmen in her entourage, with spouses. The Munificent 28 will pay their way. With pork barrel?

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Ceasefire, please. Internecine quarrel stops at water’s edge. Responsible opposition decorum doesn’t criticize the government which is on a foreign trip.

Huwag iwagwag ang baho ng pamilya kay Uncle Sam or Uncle Barack.

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It isn’t true that Yahoo top-billed Cebu penitentiary will accept only Guatanamo inmates who can dance the Thrilla!

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Did photo-op of feisty Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia’s dramatic entry at the Mandaue opening of the Airsoft Sports Tourism Cup in a B-150 combat tank disturb the peace like the Rambo parade of Erap and Mayor Jojo Binay?

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Executive Secretary Ermita conveyed Malacañang’s request for JBC to cast a wider net for the shortlist of 6 for 2 Supreme Court vacancies. The Highest Court should include a de campanilla corporate lawyer to appreciate economic and business issues.

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Former BIR commissioner Jose Mario Buñag’s op-ed article, “Thanks, But No Thanks,” can be PGMA's eye-opener to US President Barack Obama. Filipino WW II veterans in the same foxholes with their GI buddies were short-changed, even with the latest one-off pay. In France and in UK, foreign conscripts sued; and the highest courts ruled against discriminatory practice and directed their governments to grant them equal benefits for their equal risks.

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Manuel Conde, born Manuel Urbano, aka Juan Tamad and father of Jun Urbano aka Mr. Shooli, was named National Artist. Our Paris embassy works with French cinema and Film Society of the Philippines President Jackie Atienza to restore Conde’s classic film Genghis Kahn, 1952 winner at Venice filmfest.

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A first in 60 years, Taiwanese and Chinese presidents swapped greetings this week — as ruling party leaders (not as heads of state, to skirt the Taiwan sovereignty issue). PROC President and Communist Party chief Hu Jintao felicitated Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on his election as party chairman. Ties across the Straits have morphed from suspicion and antipathy to expressions of amity and understanding, amid thriving trade and investment. RP can tack the wind by staffing Manila Economic and Cultural Office with DFA professionals.

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The Russians are coming! The Philippine-Russian Business Forum opens on August 7, 2009 at the Cebu International Convention Center. This project of the Philippine-Russian Business Assembly headed by Russian Honorary Consul General Armi Lopez Garcia with the support of Ambassador Vitaly Y. Vorobiev and the Russian Embassy has President Gloria Arroyo as keynote speaker. For enquires log on to www.prbai.com.

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Golda Manto-Yap, 34-year-old mother of three and a call center agent, topped the Nursing Licensure Examinations.

She can choose between a high-paying job and a vocation, between home and abroad. PRC Commissioner Ruth Padilla decries the fact that only 32,617 (42%) of 77,901 examinees passed.

Better worry about high mortality than worry about leakage and questionable passing of failures.

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Britain’s last WW I veteran Harry Patch passed away at 111 years. He survived a lethal German chemical weapon, which is a household byword today for whitener… Chlorox.

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Speaker Prospero Nograles and Majority Leader Arthur Defensor say critics see the hole instead of the doughnut. Who’s to blame, Dunking or Mister?

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Powerade-Team Pilipinas finished a dismal 2-6 in the Jones Cup. No longer a laughing matter.

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Feedback: jaz@mb.com.ph