The Philippine Online Chronicles

Nation, it was just a matter of time before this happened.

A while back, I had the opportunity to meet Quezon City Vice Mayor and mayoralty candidate Herbert Bautista. Admittedly, it wasn’t quite what I expected, but finding an opportunity to pick the brain of one of the most ubiquitous faces in Quezon City and learning more about him certainly appealed a lot to me.

In light of Mike Defensor’s accusations, it was imperative for yours truly to find out what “Bistek” would have to say about these things. Everyone who went there was there with a purpose. They wanted answers, and they wanted the truth. The next three years of Quezon City are very crucial years in a rebuilding process: what he intends to do for the city in that span of time, and how he intends to prove his integrity is beyond reproach were all issues that needed to be taken under consideration.

It also doesn’t really help his case that he blundered onscreen as he tried to explain his way out of what appears to be a case of very fuzzy math.

The minute we got there, we saw him seated on the floor, looking nothing like you would expect of a man who is running for the highest office in Quezon City. He was very welcoming to everyone, but there was some kind of trepidation, a gloomy air around him that we couldn’t quite understand, as he was all smiles with us, yet something heavy was clearly going on in his mind.

Dinner was served, and it was a very humble but delightful meal that was every bit as unassuming as Herbert Bautista himself. The first thing that immediately caught my eye was the freshly-cooked tilapia that looked very appetizing, and was certainly sumptuous. It was an exercise in contrast, really: at the meeting with Mike Defensor, we were treated to an opulent meal capped off by prime roast beef, while at Herbert Bautista’s humble abode, we had delicious but healthful tilapia, which went very well with tomatoes and salted eggs. The fish was so fresh you could almost smell the sea air from when it was captured in the morning. I can’t tell you enough how overwhelming it was for my taste buds, as you really had to be there to experience it.

Afterwards, we turned our attention to the very hearty mix of beef caldereta ( I was half-expecting bistek, but I guess that would’ve been too hamfisted.), and it was very good. Coupled with the fresh fish, the beef caldereta was just delectable and the meat was perfectly tender. If they ever made wagyu pork, I think that this particular batch of liempo would’ve been comprised of it. I cannot heap enough praise on the simple but delicious food we were served that night. All delays aside, we were very famished, and the food was just exceptional. But while the caldereta was really good, a classic Filipino favourite was what really stole the show during dinner.

This is pork liempo, and it is just nothing short of heavenly. I don’t think I’ve ever had liempo this good since... Baliwag about a week ago. And that gravy does taste suspiciously familiar. Still, it’s not like I’m complaining, right? It just really floored me how good the liempo was, to say the least. With the heapings of rice we were served that night, I felt like a very patriotic Filipino, enjoying our nation’s staple food with what can only be described as divine swine.

As if all that weren’t enough, we just had to cap everything off with fresh mangoes for dessert. The mangoes were sweeter than the nectar from the gods, and I couldn’t help but realize how, despite fanfare and glitz, this dinner was simply one of the most wonderful and patriotic dinners I ever had. It simply made me feel great to be a part of this great nation, and all it took was tilapia, caldereta, a good mix of vegetables on the side, liempo, and ripe mangoes. Truly, it was a feast to marvel at, and arguably made the swanky and opulent dinner of Herbert Bautista’s competition seem unnecessary and almost downright inferior, as crazy as that may sound.

I don’t think I’d ever forget this meal. I don’t suppose they had a public bidding for this dinner, either.

Anyways, after this unbelievably good supper, we talked about politics, his plans and platform, and other stuff like that. Nothing important, really.

NOTE: This is an April Fool’s Day article, although considering how unremarkable Herbert Bautista’s address of his issues were, perhaps the food really was the best thing to write about that night.

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