Noynoy is Benigno Aquino III; Mar is Manuel A. Roxas II. I hope they do not intend to remain III at 2010 elections.

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Ambassador Isabel Wilson is the next president of Cultural Center of the Philippines. The choice of this no-nonsense Medici and Dr. Raul Sunico as the artistic director augurs a CCP renaissance.

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Last Sunday, UAAP two-peat champions Blue Eagles took the Philippine Collegiate Champions League cup and P500,000 prize money (another two-peat, too), besting the FEU Tamaraws 74-70.

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Mens sana, in corpora sano. They won on the treys of Jainamite Reyes and without their pivotman Rabeh Al-Hussain who skipped the basketball finals to focus on his academic finals.

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The Eagles had also won Unigames in Dumaguete. Their taking 3-out-of-3 trophies caps the Ateneo Sesquicentennial celebrations. That high faluthin’ word is Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, SJ, and the Jesuits’ way of counting 150 years.

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“Big deal,” says Fr. Rector Rev. Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, OP, and the Dominicans who are just waiting around the corner for 2011 to celebrate UST’s 400th year with Dr. Raul Sunico as their prized dean of the conservatory of music.

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As Real y Pontifical Universidad, UST will invite His Majesty, Juan Carlos of Spain, and His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, to the celebration.

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Dr. Olivia Castillo is the only Filipino (and a private person at that) sitting with the high and mighty in the United Nations Secretary General Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation.

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UNSGAB is not all talk. It was former UN Secretary General Kofi Anan’s think tank to advise him how to galvanize action on water and sanitation issues. His successor Ban Ki-Moon continues it for solving global water problems which is central to eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development.

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HRH, Prince Willem Alexander, Crown Prince of the Netherlands, succeeded the late former Japan Prime Minister Ruytaro Hashimoto as UNSGAB chair. Its roster of dignitaries and proven experts include... hold your breath – German parliamentarian Uschi Eid, vice chair; His Imperial Highness, Japan Crown Prince Naruhito (honorary president), OECD Sec. Gen. Angel Gurria (Mexico former finance minister); Michel Camdessus; Maria Mutagamba, Uganda minister of water; Wang Shucheng, China vice chairman of financial and economic affairs; Juanita Castano, Colombia former vice minister of foreign affairs; Omar Kabbaj, former president of the African Development Bank; Poul Nielson, Denmark former energy minister; Han Seung-Soo, RoK former prime minister, etc., etc.

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Filipino professionals excel in international organizations, sometimes despite our bureaucracy. UNSGAB secretariat is hosted by the UN Economic and Social Council.

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When Dr. Castillo and her colleagues arrived at The Hague last week, they were received plane-side and whisked off on Mercs directly to the Palace of Queen Beatrix – who disarmed the dignitaries with the royal ease and warmth. Her Majesty recalled driving a jeepney herself in Manila and visiting Malacañang and meeting “a brat presidential daughter.”

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Missing in action at the once-in-a-lifetime reception because he was elsewhere was the spouse and my high school class valedictorian, Dr. Florante Castillo, who is nowadays better known as the husband of Dr. Olivia Castillo.

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Dr. Castillo and Netherlands Ambassador Robert Brinks are conspiring to invite Queen Beatrix to Cebu, where they last held the successful UNSGAB meeting in March (?) this year. Feedback: jaz@mb.com.ph