Your mantra for the week: I believe in me.

I have been asked why most of our population live below the poverty line and the simplest answer I can give is that, psychologically, it is caused by one’s low self-esteem. And low self-esteem, in turn, comes from beliefs that bring us down because we have accepted them to be true for ourselves.

We can start with the belief that we are sinners and because of the feeling of guilt, we attract the equivalent punishment. Add to this the belief that we were born with original sin and that our not-so-bright parents who took a bite from that forbidden “apple” were banished from paradise, which is underscored in a popular prayer with the phrase, poor banished children of Eve.

Then, we take to the idea that we are only human, disregarding completely our Spiritual Nature and that God is “up there” and not in the Kingdom within, and from up there, It gets displeased and punishes us for our misdeeds. In IAMISM, that would make for a very unintelligent God behaving like a despotic human being standing in judgment instead of an all-loving and nonjudgmental God.

Again, we have heard that the flesh is weak, when in truth, the flesh is not weak but it is the mind being used improperly that causes the flesh its weakness. Furthermore, assuming that the Cosmic Birther created the whole universe, which IAMISM accepts, it then means that God also formed even the devil, that oftentimes wins, which makes the concept quite untenable.

Repeatedly, we hear there is hell to pay when we make mistakes. Yes, we do make mistakes but I do not believe that making a mistake makes us sinners in the religious sense of the word because a sin is an old archery term, which means “missing the mark” and so we can always aim again and next time, hit the bull’s-eye. Changing all the above old beliefs should bring your low self-esteem to a new high.

Revisionism in our midst

In a time where political revisionism is the name of the game, even the social world has given in to this tendency. Dysfunctional marriages are now described as harmonious and filled with wedded blessedness. Well, at least that is a family matter.

I take exemption, though, when it comes to politics because it affects the very core of our government and launders history. So the next generation is disadvantaged for not knowing the horrors that happened during the martial law era, which revisionists insist on calling the “golden era” of Philippine history, when the only golden thing about it is that a lot of gold was flown out of the country. That period also brought our external debt to $26 billion, which, by the way, every tax-paying Filipino is still settling.

Thank you, Peta

I am happy that the Philippine Educational Theater Association (Peta), winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award this year, is restaging Chris Millado’s 1985 musical play, “Buwan at Baril,” on Sept. 26-27, 8 p.m., at the Peta Theater Center, 5 Eymard Drive, New Manila, Quezon City. The play depicts what really happened in those so-called golden years. If that was golden, we will take tanso anytime.

Elegant Filipinas

Tingting Cojuangco’s List of Most Elegant Filipinas always proves to be an evening of fun for those who get awarded and those who came to watch the 2017 presentation at Diamond Hotel. The inexhaustible Tingting was ably assisted by Consul General to Monaco Fortune Ledesma and Philux’s Zelda Kienle.

This year’s event was titled “Autistic Possibilities” (replacing the letter “u” with an “r”) as a tribute to the creativity of children with special needs, whose works were shown in an exhibit before the awarding ceremony. Celebrated designer Albert Andrada, who was tasked to dress the elegant ladies, also had a fashion show.

Among the Elegant Filipina awardees were two Epitomé awardees of mine, Heart Evangelista-Escudero and Vicky Morales, which only goes to show that dressing their best is second nature to them. Also on this year’s list were the appealing Mitzi Borromeo of CNN; Millet Mananquil’s daughter Rissa Mananquil Trillo; designer par excellence Lulu Tan-Gan; the dynamic Joanna Preysler, and the constantly stylish Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez.

It was so delightful to see Patsy Francisco, mother of Randy and Raul (and more charming than her sons combined). Unfortunately, she does not socialize as often.

I was thrilled about my reunion with my former head chef of Stars of Giorgio, Martin Kaspar. A master of his profession, he now heads his own resto, L’Entrecote at BGC. His No. 1 asset, though, is wife Mitzi, one of the three beautiful Aragon sisters, the two others being Zelda Kienle, another Epitomé and Tingting awardee, and former Miss Magnolia winner Gina Garcia.

The angel in Samantha

Martin Kaspar’s daughter Samantha participated in the art exhibit and later sang a song that touched the hearts of many. Her natural artistry showed that those with autism still have much to give.

PCS Best Dressed Women

From there, I had to rush back to Makati to catch the photo exhibit of the Philippine Cancer Society’s Best Dressed at Greenbelt 5. Seen in the event were Mario Katigbak, Duday Tuason, Charisse Chuidian and Linda Ley. Johnny Litton, who emceed the awarding since it began with Imelda Cojuangco and continued with Helen Ong until she moved on, was back for his hosting duties. The French Baker donated the superlative pass-arounds like it does yearly.

A new society

The question that evening was why Tingting’s event always coincides with the Philippine Cancer Society’s affair. They promised that it wouldn’t happen again next year. Finally, maybe the branded and the generic can get together and come up with a new concept called the “braneric” society.

See you on Sept. 27 for Philippine Cancer Society’s gala event for the “Best Dressed Women of the Philippines” at Shangri-La BGC.

Juicy news on my CCTV
(Cocktail Circuit Tattle Voices)

People in the circuit are either having a big laugh, are totally curious or dismayed about the latest talk on feminine wash. In the ’70s, there was a brand called Liasan and the Conde de Makati quoted a businessman who said, “Kung walang Liasan, layasan ko nga.”

Well, today an ardent lover who likes making love the French way was so impressed with his partner and asked her about her secret. Nonchalantly, she countered, “It is just pineapple juice, whether fresh or canned.”

Wow, and you have a choice to dole it out or pick a mountain-grown one. As they say, “It is the dawn of the nutrition age and life gets better every day.”

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