Based on her previous pronouncements (and not on my crystal ball, i don’t have any, i just look at files): she will blame world prices for the unavailability of affordable rice in the Philippines resulting in kilometric queues for NFA rice and chaotic hungry crowds; without answering why she did not do anything about ensuring food security when the crisis had been anticipated years ago; she will crow about her P500 electricity subsidy (dole-out to those whose electricity bill is less than P700) from the VAT windfall without answering why in this wonderful age of wireless technology, broadband, ATM, she chose the most labor-intensive, time-consuming, nerve-wracking manner of distributing the P500 resulting, again in, kilometric queues, instead of distributing the subsidy as credits in electric bills; the latter, electronic transfers, would not involve her photographs, her posters; and without answering whether or not the people would ever be able to count or measure (audit) how the two billion pesos in subsidy was being distributed/ was distributed since the transfer is not electronic but manual, i.e. in petty cash of non-auditable pieces.
And so, executive secretary Ed Ermita and press secretary Dureza talked about her gown. (that dress above, made of fabric similar to that she would wear today, e.g., indigenous materials, is $3,000 or P135,000).
The President’s men talked about the President’s new dress. And said (from http://www.manilatimes.com) : “PGMA’s gown will also capture her key Sona theme of self-reliance, protecting the environment, helping the poor, the vulnerable, Filipino capacity for stability of the nation into the first world; of government support since the fabric and fiber were created by Philippine Textile Research Institute of DOST; national equity and cooperation because the gown is blend of silk from grassroots of Misamis Oriental (Mindanao) and pineapple fibers produced in Aklan (Visayas) and created and designed by fashion craftsman from Manila (Luzon); and grassroots participation since the weavers are ordinary folks from Aklan cottage industry; indigenous and environmental because the fabric was dyed using extracts from the bark of “sabang”, an indigenous plant.”
When asked about the price, Secretary Dureza said: “the fabric costs P600 per yard. 6 yards used or P3,000. When asked how much the creation costs, Joanne said “Filipino ingenuity and craft is priceless.”
How much exactly is “priceless”? Gowns have tag prices; only pieces of wardrobe that could be considered as historical artifacts could be considered as “priceless”, e.g., the blood-stained barong of Ninoy Aquino, the blood-stained shirt and slippers of Lean Alejandro, etc., unless you are about to tell me that the President would declare something historic today like, tell the truth.
If the Office of the President refuses to name the price, it must be unnameable.
I’m not a fashion merchandizer, so i used research to estimate the price of Gloria’s JC Buendia gown. JC Buendia haute couture prices start at 20,000 pesos (the cheapest, made of ordinary fabric, not of indigenous plants) while a similar “eco-friendly” dress made from organic dyes and indigenous plants she wore at the anniversary of the Department of Science and Technology cost three thousand dollars or one hundred thirty five thousand pesos. And that was just a dress/ suit, not a gown. She is probably not wearing the cheapest, so the cost of the presidential gown this afternoon is probably at the price range of P60,000-P140,000.
The Office of the President should review their choice of words.
Priceless means invaluable to the nation. (Tell the truth today and the gown will be priceless).
Pricey simply means she-and-a-few-others-but-not-the-rest-of-us-can-afford.
