March 27, 2001. 11:14 p.m. I have just come home from the worst experience of my group, The CompanY. In all of our 16 years in the live entertainment and recording industry, never have we been abused by anyone to this degree.......until now.

Tonight, we were booked by Ms. Pia Gonzales Nazareno, the Public Relations officer of Citibank, to do a five song set at Citibank's appreciation dinner for the Senior Executives (CEO's) of the Ayala Group. No less than an august coterie of the titans and captains of industry were there. The venue was at 38 McKinley Drive, Forbes Park: residence of Jim and Kathy Weir. Kathy Weir is the country head of Citibank.

The evening progressed without a glitch. The party's audience asked CompanY to do more songs and we gladly obliged. Actually, the party organizers/producers did not strictly follow the details of our contract but we did not make a big deal out of it. Admittedly, we were feeling pleased with ourselves considering that we didn't mess up in front of such an elite and important group.

After the performance, half of CompanY dutifully went to our designated changing room to pack and head home while the other half decided to finish their tiramisu dessert. This is where it gets ugly. Mr. Jim Weir, the present tenant of the plush home, enters the room and snaps at one of the CompanY girls, Annie who was on the phone at the time calling to be picked up. He curtly asks, " Is that a local call?". In shock, Annie and I meekly replied yes. Mr. Jim Weir then approaches me and in an angry tone lets me know that he was extremely offended by the conduct of The CompanY. I couldn't believe what I was hearing because, as I said, we were pleased with the job we just did.

"Where did you get the wine?!", Mr. Jim Weir demanded from me. Unable to answer and comprehend, he asked me again more vehemently this time. His words went by so fast but I was already getting the feeling that he was insinuating that we stole or got the bottles of wine without his permission.

I calmly answered that we were offered by the waiters of the Manila Peninsula (who were the party's caterers) upon the instructions of Ms. Pia Nazareno (PR officer of Citibank). As if not hearing my explanation, Mr. Jim Weir then went on to say that professionals do not drink before a performance. By this time his voice was escalating in volume and he was blatantly rude. "Name me the name of that person who gave you the wine?!" , he pressed. "Dante!", luckily I still remembered the name of our waiter.

Mr. Weir then proceeded to say that how dare we leave our half- filled wineglasses in the changing room. "Didn't you think that it could have spilled all over my white furniture!!??"

I repeated myself and told them that we didn't ask nor order the wine. It was offered to us by the Citibank PR officer. This only agitated Mr. Weir because he kept on increasing the volume of his voice and started shouting.

Cecile Bautista, one of the CompanY members, could not stomach that I was still trying to be diplomatic and calm in spite of these insinuations, rudeness and insults being flung left and right. Cecile joined in and said that that is NO way to treat your guests! Mr. Jim Weir then rebutted that we should stop acting like primadonnas because he has already hired many entertainers and this has not happened.

"How dare you treat us this way in our country?!", Cecile countered! At this point, Mr. Weir shouted to the top of his lungs and screamed at her - "HOW DARE YOU TREAT ME THIS WAY IN MY OWN HOME!!!"
Cecile shot with, "In our culture, when we are offered something to drink and eat, we accept graciously!"

"You were employed to do a job and no one drinks wine before a performance!" , Mr. Jim Weir insisted. "OH yeah! Pavarotti has a shot of wine before a show!", was Cecile's rebuttle. To no avail, Mr. Weir just got angrier and angrier and started to insult us with his arrogant remarks nonstop:

"Why did you bring up the race issue?! What do you know about culture? HOW MANY COUNTRIES HAVE YOU LIVED IN?!"
"I haven't lived in many countries but I have traveled to many already!", Cecile shoots back.

Mr. Jim Weir counters: "Well I have lived in five countries already so don't talk to me about culture! What do you know about banking and finance anyway?!"

His arrogance and condescending attitude ultimately stunned us silent. At this point, Mr. Jim Weir's logic had gone kaput! The CompanY actually felt his negative vibes early on in the afternoon as we were doing our sound check but decided to brush it off and just be professional about the gig. Little did we know that our negative feeling towards him was a precursor of what was yet to come.
Ultimately, Mr. Jim Weir declared that we shall never sing in his house again. We answered back that we never want to anyway.

Unable to find more insults to fling at us, Mr. Jim Weir finally ordered us out of his home immediately. We didn't want any trouble considering that the Ayala group was still enjoying the party. I called the other half of the group and hurriedly packed our things. While packing, Mr. Weir kept on coming back to the room and shouted at his staff and Ms. Pia Nazareno, who was in the room at this point. " GET THEM OUT!", his voice boomed as we hurriedly packed our things and left the home. We felt and looked like guilty household helpers being driven out of the house in the middle of the night!

Ms. Pia Nazareno apologized for the mishap but we were inconsolable at that point. I promised her that she would hear from our manager, Boy Abunda.

We waited for our rides on the street, McKinley Drive. Our bags were strewn on the sidewalk as we tried to digest what had just happened. It is quite unbelievable how quick a pleasant evening can turn into a dreadful nightmare.

The insults and harangues of Mr. Jim Weir reeked with arrogance, elitism, bigotry, condescension and just plain meanness.

To Mr. Weir, considering that your wife - Kathy Weir holds such a high profile in society (i.e. Citibank Philippine country head), you should always think of the consequences of your conduct; and that axiom applies in whichever country you may be living in. To imply that we stole your bitter, dry wine, to indict us as unprofessional entertainers, that we are not as well traveled as you, that we have no knowledge in banking and finance, that our knowledge in the idiosyncrasies of other cultures is deficient . . . only strengthens our case and position that in spite of all your "perceived" wealth and power, you are a person we should just pity. Never, ever forget that the Law of Karma is inescapable!!

In case you wish to e-mail citibank.-ed.
http://www.citibank.com/philippines/contact/makereq.htm