Just Jeric
  • Home
  • City Guides
    • Manila Travel Ideas
  • Travel
    • Transportation
    • Travel Expenses
    • Travel Preparation
    • Travel Tips
  • Culture
    • Celebrations
    • Traditions
  • Food
    • Recipes
  • Etc
    • Entertainment
    • Literature
    • Personal Finance
    • Reviews
    • Technology
    • Thought Cloud


The Day that Hillary Clinton Answered My Question

By Jeric Pena • November 19, 2011 • Events, Internet, Thought Cloud, Twitter

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the Philippines a few days ago to grace the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty. In between the events regarding the said celebration, Hillary Clinton also attended a forum organized by GMA News and the Embassy of the United States of America in the Philippines.

On the eve of the forum, GMA News tweeted, “Any light questions (i.e. What makes you smile? et al.) for U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton? Tweet using #SecClintonManila hashtag.”

Knowing that there’s no harm in trying, I replied to the said tweet with a question for Hillary Clinton. I asked, “What’s on your iPod?”

I hope nobody stones me to death for asking a shallow question. GMA News asked for light questions and I gave them one.

But how did I come up with the said question?

Here’s the story. I just finished reading Steve Jobs’s biography by Walter Isaacson about a week ago. I remembered that Isaacson talked (wrote) about the contents of Steve Jobs’s iPod quite extensively. He also wrote about how Steve Jobs loved Bob Dylan. That part of the Steve Jobs’s biography made me think-slash-wonder about the kind of music famous people listen to.

I didn’t actually care whether GMA News would ask Hillary Clinton to answer my question or not. I just wanted to ask the said question.

The forum Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Conversation in Manila aired on GMA News TV 11 and was also streamed live on the Internet last November 16, 2011 at around 2:30pm. I wasn’t able to watch it live because I was in school (I was in my Philippine Literature class at that time).

When I arrived home at around 4:00pm, I immediately checked GMA News TV and I discovered that the forum was already over. So, I turned to Twitter to check on what transpired during the said forum. I did not see any hint that my question was answered. But I remember reading that Hillary Clinton is a BlackBerry person.

I was sad and heartbroken although I didn’t expect anything at all. But how can GMA News ignore such a witty question? And so I tweeted, “So @gmanews didn’t ask my iPod question for Sec Clinton. 🙁 #SecClintonManila”

But I was wrong. GMA News did ask my iPod question for Secretary Clinton.

At around 9:00pm, my sister, Dianne, arrived home and turned on the television just in time to see a portion of Station of the Nation Address’s (a news program) feature on the said forum. GMA News included in that feature the clip wherein Secretary Clinton was answering my question.

I jumped. I screamed. I danced. I did some crazy things to express how happy, ecstatic I was upon learning that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton actually answered my question! 

I don’t care if I was not invited to attend the said forum. I am happy and grateful because I was able to ask Hillary Clinton a question and she answered! And she answered lengthily!

Thank you to everyone who made this possible! You don’t know how much you made this lowly creature happy.


Tweet
3
Christmas 2011 Wish/Hope List
I got a 'Kalabaw'!

About the Author

Jeric Pena

Hello, I'm Jeric Pena, a blogger, teacher, blogger, all-around multimedia journalist and graduate student from Manila, Philippines. Basically, a jack of all trades.

You Might Also Like

  • Free Valentine’s Day 2014 Events in Manila

  • Gates of Heaven or Hell?

  • 13 Things To Do in 2013

  • Signs in Korean (Photo by kristajo)

    So you want to be a polyglot?

  • Jay De Jesus

    Great story and congrats !
    Actually, 2 hrs before the actual live telecast and livestream, when GMA were testing their video displays inside the venue, I accidentally saw the same screencap you have, and I even remember saying to my colleague “Hey, si Jeric ! Kilala ko sya ! Blogger friend ko!” If I had your number, I would’ve texted you.

    And as a bit of trivia: I was the one who conceptualized the hashtag for the event. But I had nothing to do with selecting any questions, which is why I was excited to see a familiar name go up on screen and be mentioned by Vicky Morales.

    Congrats again ! I’m pretty sure that the next time there’s a Q&A via twitter, you’ll send in your entry. 🙂

  • bj369

    Of all the questions in this world waiting to be resolved …
    … sometimes you may wonder, such (your tweet) is a sensible one.

    Great!

  • Jeric

    @Jay, thanks! Glad to hear/read about that story. My mom actually thought that it was you who picked my question. Congratulations!

Hello!

Hello!

Hello, I'm Jeric, a blogger, teacher, all-around multimedia journalist and graduate student from Manila, Philippines. Basically, a jack of all trades.

Subscribe & Follow

Search the Site

Archives

  • Posts by Category

  • Posts by Month

  • Features

    • Reliving the '90s
    Twitter Instagram Youtube RSS

    From Manila Philippines

    © Jeric Pena. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.