Remembering Emi Boncodin ENQUIRY Demaree J. B. Raval 03/21/2010

Remembering Emi Boncodin

ENQUIRY Demaree J. B. Raval 03/21/2010 On a fine day in September 2006 — I had just shepherded the Kabul Declaration Against Corruption at a conference held at the Serena Hotel, and was about to leave for my UN quarters — I heard a familiar voice asking the hotel concierge what rooms were available and how much they cost. The gravelly yet sing-song inflections took me back in time to my Senate and UP days, and I was very sure to whom it belonged. And true enough, it was Emi, a.k.a. former Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin. What was a very fragile Bikolana like her doing in war-torn Afghanistan? She told me she had come as a consultant to the Afghan Ministry of Finance in the preparation of the national budget. Emi stayed at the hotel only for two days, preferring to stay at the more frugal quarters for consultants. She did save a lot in changing residence, and took pride in being able to spend her savings buying a rare indulgence for an austere woman like her: a hand-spun cashmere shawl — the famous pashmina. .... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/20100321com3.html

COMMENTARY Generals’ game FRONTLINE Clueless, flip-flopping candidate ENQUIRY Remembering Emi Boncodin BLURBAL THRUSTS Gibo in the end? TABLETS OF STONE A damning dilemma VIEWPOINTS The curse of injustice in the land FEATURE Cashing in on cutting carbon at home