Gela Alonte, Claudine Co, Jammy Cruz, Vern and Verniece Enciso, Mia Fortich, Jasmine Chan, Gela Marasigan and Christine Lim — these ladies not only know the likes of Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo because they likely wear them.

The history of Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy and Christian Louboutin, they talk about. They are aware that Coco Chanel’s biggest fashion contributions are the little black dress, the Chanel suit and the parfum Chanel No. 5. Their daily accessories, a choice between Bulgari, Cartier, Tiffany & Co., or Harry Winston. Balenciaga, Dior, Gucci, Hermes and Louis Vuitton are the luxury designer bags they carry for every day and evening occasions.      

Thus, I cannot help but wonder: with their display of affluence and privileges, knowing the fact that the rich, whether old or nouveau, are not like you and I, do they truly deserve all the hate and vitriol thrown at them? Are they the proper subjects to be targeted?

Disney princesses

Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora of Sleeping Beauty are the iconic Disney princesses who believe in the power of true love’s kiss, with Prince Florian, Prince Charming and Prince Philip as their knights in shining armor, and the ones who bring them to a castle, marry them and live happily ever after with.

As to why Alonte and her company are equated with these beloved Disney heroines, only the noisy mob can and may explain.

 The trio of princesses are no way near the energy and intelligence of Mulan, the bookworm that is Belle in Beauty and the Beast, or Ariel of Little Mermaid who wanted to know what is a fire and why does it burn.

The reason why Alonte and her gal pals are likened to the original Disney female protagonists is because they seem oblivious to what is happening in the world.

Snow White’s main wish was that someday her prince will come. Cinderella beguiled Prince Charming with just one ball dance and an unbreakable glass slipper, and Aurora and Philip waltzed their way into the forest as they sang “Once Upon A Dream.”

In this day and age of social media and the world wide web, and news not only in its traditional format but also having digital versions, it is impossible to believe that Alonte and others are unmindful of current events, real time issues and the polarizing politics that we have.

What we see on social media is just the tip of the iceberg as far as these elite ladies are concerned. We do not know what charitable causes they support. We are not privy to their 24/7 activities and interests. We do not have ready access to their thought balloons, processes and emotional health.

The manner they are being vilified is the most confusing and dangerous development. Before them, the authority figures in their lives must be the biggest targets of all the curses, cusses and outcry.

It is not their fault that their parents give them the best that money can buy. And they are all relatively young and entitled to do stupid things with the hope that, in the course of time, they will learn from their reckless youth, and become ladies with principles and morality.

Nepo babies

Nepotism, by definition, is the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives, friend or associates, especially by giving them jobs.          

It seems that those who coined the term do not even know its meaning and the essence and practice of nepotism. All the ladies being labeled as such are not holding any government position because their parents requested a compadre for a swift entry to a commission, department or a government owned entity. In their case, it did not take a phone call message to the human resources department for their pretty young miss to take the easiest route to the top management group.

The nepo baby is a misnomer. And to those who brand and claim these ladies as such, please connect the dots and declare the name of the offices they are currently working for and confirm if it is their parents who really pulled the strings.

Old vs nouveau

Alonte and company are rich, but they do not act and behave like the Cojuangcos, Levistes, Madrigals, Razons, Zobel de Ayalas and the elites who live in Bel-Air, Dasmarinas Village, Forbes Park, Urdaneta Village, New Manila and all the other gated subdivisions in Quezon City.

How they splurge and use their new money, they learned it from their parents, kin and kind, exacerbated by the fact that the lifestyle of the rich and famous is as good at it gets, and normal as it should be because they were born to their respective families.

Moralizing that there is a big difference between hard-earned money and money that came from corruption and the by-product of greed is just like barking up a dead tree and telling all the present-day incarnations of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI to bake more cake and feed it to the descamisados and the restless who, when they get their fill of the sweets, smile, rub their bellies and accept life for what it is.

And this sad reality, we already know who to blame, and it is definitely not the Disney princesses and nepo babies.