MANILA: Philippine President Benigno Aquino III defended his decision not to appoint award-winning actress Nora Aunor as a national artist, saying Tuesday that doing so would have sent the message that illegal drugs are acceptable.
Aquino told reporters he decided to exclude the actress, who rose from rags to stardom, from this year’s list of national artist appointees because of a previous drug conviction — which Aunor’s lawyer disputed.
Aquino’s explanation came a week after a controversy broke out over the decision, with several national artists and members of a committee that vets nominees expressing outrage. Some called for protests and for a review of the selection process.
“The National Artist honor is given because we want to say this person contributed a lot to the Filipino race and should be emulated,” Aquino said. “But my problem with that is ... Ms. Nora Aunor was convicted for drugs.”
He said he respects Aunor’s contributions to the film industry but does not “want to send a message that sometimes illegal drugs are acceptable; the message should be it is always bad and illegal.”
Aunor’s lawyer, Claire Navarro Espina, said the actress, who was then living in the United States, was arrested in 2005 at Los Angeles airport for a drug-related offense but was never convicted and the case was later dismissed. She said a bag in Aunor’s name which the actress did not pack was found to have a glass pipe that showed traces of methamphetamine. The actress was traveling with four assistants at the time. Espina said she was not aware of any other drug convictions.
The case was dismissed in 2007 after Aunor satisfied the terms of California’s drug diversion program and all her random drug tests were negative, Espina added. The diversion program provides education and treatment instead of jail time and a criminal record for alleged drug users.
Aunor, 61, came from an impoverished family in eastern Camarines Sur province and used to sell water in the train station in her hometown. She later won singing contests and began a movie career in the 1960s, winning dozens of best actress awards.
She has made nearly 200 movies, including many considered to be classics in Philippine cinema.
Aquino: Honoring Nora Aunor would be wrong drug message
Aquino: Honoring Nora Aunor would be wrong drug message
Fans bid farewell to Japan’s only pandas
TOKYO: Panda lovers in Tokyo said goodbye on Sunday to a hugely popular pair of the bears that are set to return to China, leaving Japan without the beloved animals for the first time in half a century.
Loaned out as part of China’s “panda diplomacy” program, the distinctive black-and-white animals have symbolized friendship between Beijing and Tokyo since the normalization of diplomatic ties in 1972.
Some visitors at Ueno Zoological Gardens were left teary-eyed as they watched Japan’s only two pandas Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao munch on bamboo.
The animals are expected to leave for China on Tuesday following a souring of relations between Asia’s two largest economies.
“I feel like seeing pandas can help create a connection with China too, so in that sense I really would like pandas to come back to Japan again,” said Gen Takahashi, 39, a Tokyo resident who visited the zoo with his wife and their two-year-old daughter.
“Kids love pandas as well, so if we could see them with our own eyes in Japan, I’d definitely want to go.”
The pandas’ abrupt return was announced last month after Japan’s conservative premier Sanae Takaichi hinted Tokyo could intervene militarily in the event of any attack on Taiwan.
Her comment provoked the ire of Beijing, which regards the island as its own territory.
The 4,400 lucky winners of an online lottery took turns viewing the four-year-old twins at Ueno zoo while others gathered nearby, many sporting panda-themed shirts, bags and dolls to celebrate the moment.
Mayuko Sumida traveled several hours from the central Aichi region in the hope of seeing them despite not winning the lottery.
“Even though it’s so big, its movements are really funny-sometimes it even acts kind of like a person,” she said, adding that she was “totally hooked.”
“Japan’s going to be left with zero pandas. It feels kind of sad,” she said.
Their departure might not be politically motivated, but if pandas return to Japan in the future it would symbolize warming relations, said Masaki Ienaga, a professor at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and expert in East Asian international relations.
“In the future...if there are intentions of improving bilateral ties on both sides, it’s possible that (the return of) pandas will be on the table,” he told AFP.
