[Left photo shows the TROIKA of Marbella 1-seen at extreme left is ELVIRA (“ELVIE”) VALMEO, Administrator of First Marbella Condominium Association, Inc. (“FMCAI”), at middle seated is MARIA EVA “CHINGBEE” KALAW, the President of FMCAI and at extreme right is BAYANI “HERO” NITO, the Chairman of FMCAI. Right photo shows the TROIKA together with other officers of the FMCAI – Standing at middle is HERO, seated adjacent to each other at the right end of the dining table are: ELVIE and CHINGBEE. The photos were taken during the joint birthday celebration of the celebrants – the TROIKA which has made MARBELLA 1 to regain its past glory and fame. This FUN-RHYME blog is an advance gift to the TROIKA who will be respectively celebrating their birthdays as follows: ELVIE on March 29; HERO on April 1; and, CHINGBEE on April 4. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL OF YOU!!!!]
At first, I got swayed to call them MARBELLA 1 TRIAD1 —
But it seems to me it would really sound BAD;
I hesitated too to call them a TRIUMVIRATE2,
It sounds too elitist and it won’t be APPROPRIATE…
Thus, I have chosen the apt word TROIKA3,
For it’s anti-elitist, as it’s a word from RUSSIA;
Undoubtedly too, RUSSIA’s leader VLADIMIR PUTIN4 ,
Is acknowledged as MOST POWERFUL LEADER5…his name is truly IN!
[Bayani “HERO” Nito]
Our Chairman BAYANI NITO who’s called as HERO,
Seems to me like PUTIN who’s been snapped like a VAQUERO6;
But more than that; HERO like PUTIN has that innate love for order,
And HERO truly works with much more ardor!
[Maria Eva “CHINGBEE” Kalaw]
Our PREXY who remains to be truly SEXY,
Is a scion of the famous KALAWs, that’s our coy CHINGBEE7;
She has shown the same ardor and zeal,
Performing with efficiency in FMCAI’s8 every deal!
[Elvira R. “ELVIE” Valmeo]
Our ADMINISTRATOR9 who has worked like a tractor,
Has hauled off the dirty/shady past and a couple of malefactor;
She has renovated the condo building with ZING,
Those who’ve seen the condo before, would now sigh: “’TIS AMAZING”!
Now the condo lobby is gleaming,
Even wondrous paintings10 are there adorning;
And the LIFT11 too has been replaced,
It has truly set Marbella 1 into modern pace!
The TROIKA of ELVIE12,CHINGBEE13 and HERO14,
Has made delinquency in arrears a NO-NO;
For the unit owners have seen the changes,
They’re now happy in fact, doing pleasant exchanges.
The MARBELLA 1 community ought to know,
That the work of this TROIKA has enhanced MARBELLA 1’s value;
Let’s all be united in maintaining the ZEAL,
We must keep MARBELLA 1 clean & green with a SEAL15!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ALL…ELVIE, CHINGBEE AND HERO!!!!
[The overall superb performance of the aforestated FMCAI officers (i.e. ELVIE, CHINGBEE and HERO) would have not been made realizable/attainable if not for the dedicated service and industriousness of the FMCAI staff and the maintenance crew. Photos above show the maintenance crew together with the female office staff featuring Royda and Roselyn.]
[Legend: 1 – TRIAD is actually a term which means a group or a set of THREE (3) people working together. But currently, the term TRIAD has been used to refer to also, a transnational criminal organization that is based in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore among many other countries.
2 – The term TRIUMVIRATE originated in Ancient Rome, and it means a group of three (3) persons, actually men, when the term was first used; holding power. In Ancient Rome, it refers to in particular ( the First Triumvirate ) which is the unofficial coalition of Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus in 60 BC and ( the Second Triumvirate ) another coalition formed by Mark Anthony, Lepidus, and Octavian in 43 BC.
3 – TROIKA is a term which originated in RUSSIA and it means a group of three (3) people working together, especially in an administrative or managerial capacity.
4 – VLADIMIR PUTIN is a Russian politician who is the current President of the Russian Federation, holding the office since May 7, 2012. He was Prime Minister from 1999 to 2000, President from 2000 to 2008, and again Prime Minister from 2008 to 2012. During his second term as Prime Minister, he was the Chairman of the ruling United Russia Party.Vladimir Putin is Forbes magazine’s most powerful person in the world. Vladimir Putin has been named the world’s most powerful person for the second year running by Forbes magazine.
5 – Russian President Vladimir Putin topped Forbes’ list of the Most Powerful People. For all of those out there who thought it would have been US President Barack Obama, note that Obama is the runner up. What made Forbes magazine chose Putin as the Most Powerful Man in the world? According to Forbes, they follow a process: “The list represents the collective wisdom of top FORBES’ editors, who consider hundreds of nominees before ranking the planet’s 72 power brokers — one for every 100 million on Earth. We measure their power along four dimensions,” explains Forbes’ Caroline Howard. These are: (1) Does the candidate have power over lots of people?; (2) What are the financial resources controlled by the person?; (3) Is the candidate powerful in multiple spheres?; and, (4) Does the candidate actively use his or her power?” While Putin may not possess the same financial resources or be as powerful in multiple spheres as Obama, there is little doubt that he is one of those individuals that has the ability to transcend man-made rules and boundaries.
6 – VAQUERO is actually Spanish term for “cowboy”. There was one photo which got circulated in the INTERNET where PUTIN was snapped riding a horse like a “cowboy”. In the Philippine setting, a “KOBOY” which is a corruption of the term “COWBOY” would mean friendly and sociable, which are those inherent traits of Bayani Nito aka Chairman HERO.
7 – CHINGBEE is FMCAI’s efficient President, Maria Eva (“CHINGBEE”) Kalaw.
8 – FMCAI is acronym for First Marbella Condominium Association, Inc. which is the condominium corporation required under the law to be organized to manage the affairs of the condominium community of the Marbella Condominium 1 (“Marbella 1”). Marbella 1 is the very first condominium building which was built along Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City and inaugurated by former President F.E. Marcos in 1974. The Marbella 1 building was designed by world-renowned architect Leandro Locsin and that in putting up the structure, Architect Locsin adopted what he called as the FLOATING DESIGN. Indeed from afar, one would easily view the building as somewhat FLOATING as there are no supporting columns in its laterals. I have been a retained counsel of FMCAI since 2000 but was cut short for a term, after a change of administration at the Marbella 1 community then. I eventually resumed acting as FMCAI’s Legal Counsel in 2012.
9 – ADMINISTRATOR is FMCAI’s Administrator, Madame ELVIRA R. (“ELVIE”) VALMEO.
10 – PIERRE PATRICIO, unit owner of Marbella 1’s Unit 712, has agreed to display his “wondrous” paintings at the Marbella 1 condo lobby for FREE. He is a contemporary painter, sculptor and illustrator from Western Visayas. The second of four siblings, he has shown interest in the visual arts scene from an early age competing in major art competitions throughout his elementary and secondary school years. He has been painting professionally since 1993. Having lived and worked as an expatriate artist in Greece, Germany, Ireland and Singapore, he has exhibited in major cities across Europe and Asia. Since his first exhibition in Athens (1995), his artworks have been showcased in venues such as the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (in cooperation with the National Centennial Commission) in 1998, the Philippine Embassy Chancery in Brussels (2000), the University of Hamburg (2002), the Kurhaus in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Hesse, Germany (2003), Museo Iloilo (2006), Bacolod City’s Museo Negrense De La Salle (2008), Dublin’s Hainault House (2010), Latvia’s Art Museum Riga Bourse and the Philippine Embassy Chancery in Stockholm (2011), Singapore’s The Arts House at the Old Parliament (2013) and Seoul’s The Space Gallery (2014).
11 – LIFT is another term for ELEVATOR.
12 – ELVIE is FMCAI Administrator Elvira R.(“ELVIE”) Valmeo.
13 – CHINGBEE is FMCAI Prexy Maria Eva (“CHINGBEE”) Kalaw.
14 – HERO is FMCAI Chairman Bayani (“HERO”) Nito.
15 – SEAL as used in this BLOG would mean CLEANLINESS of Marbella 1 of that desired caliber, as that TOP QUALITY level of cleanliness.]
I am a litigation lawyer in the Philippines and a graduate of the UP College of Law. I also hold an AB Economics degree from the University of the Philippines. While taking up Law at UP Diliman, I was working at the Tondo Foreshore Development Project which eventually became part of the National Housing Authority (NHA), where I started out as a Research Officer and eventually rose as Estate Manager. When the EDSA REVOLUTION happened, I resigned from the NHA in May 1986 and got employed as Legal Officer with Allied Banking Corporation's Legal and Collection Department, which got merged with the Philippine National Bank. In 1998, together with my UP Law classmate, the late Jaime G. Nagrampa, we put up a private law firm which originally was named NAGRAMPA & YOUNG Law Office and now, as THE YOUNG LAW FIRM.
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