Heard soon over Palace phone: 'Hiloo'
If Sen. Mar Roxas has his way, the heavily-accented Bisaya way of saying 'hello' would soon be heard answering the Palace phone, quite reminiscent of the 'Hello Garci' line attributed to President Arroyo.
On the occasion of the Dinagyang Festival, the Ilonggo senator who hails from Capiz visited Iloilo City Saturday, and met with Gov. Niel Tupas and municipal mayors at the Capitol.
“Let us work hard so that when you call Malacañang starting 2010, a voice on the other line will answer you, saying 'hiloo!'” Roxas was heard telling more or less 30 mayors, mimicking a Bisayan accent.
In a press conference afterwards, the senator stressed on what he told the mayors.
“I think my statement was very clear: What we want is somebody in Malacañang to answer the phone saying hiloo!” Roxas said, humoring further how Ilonggos pronounce the English greeting 'Hello.' But, Roxas said, the heavily-accented 'hello' could not be that of Sen. Manny Villar, who has also introduced himself to be an Ilonggo.
Firing a broadside at the former senate president who is eyeing the presidency in 2010, Roxas said: “There are many who claim they are natives of Iloilo. But I am the only one who can speak Hiligaynon straight while they, on the other hand, can only speak mayong aga, mayong udto, mayong hapon (good morning, good noon, good afternoon).”
He then joked with reporters, saying that the latter should mention in their write-ups that the senators spoke in straight Hiligaynon for 10 minutes. But, Roxas said, his own brand of 'hiloo' is far from the 'Hello Garci' controversy which hounded President Arroyo.
“It's very different. 'Hello Garci' was an illegal and unauthorized conversation between an election officer and a candidate, and besides, all what I said was Hiloo! Sin-o ni? Sin-o ka? Maano ka? (Hello, who's calling? Who are you? What is it you want?),” he said.
And what are the chances of hearing it over the Palace phone, “I think the chances are very good,” he said.
“The people are frustrated, tired, and angry. No matter where you turn, graft and corruption is evident,” he said. “They want change, reform, transparency, accountability and they want direct action.”