Film stars, family feuds and intrigue add colour to Philippine
election
PHILIPPINES: Movie stars, divided families, failed coup plotters and
friends turning against each other make the May mid-term elections in
the Philippines seem more like a gaudy soap opera than an exercise in
democracy.
The main focus of the campaign is on the race for 12 seats in the
24-seat Senate where President Gloria Arroyoâs âTeam Unityâ is going up
against the so-called Genuine Opposition (GO).
But it is hard to tell what side anyone is on when Arroyoâs team
includes former senators Vicente Sotto and Teresa Oreta who once called
for her to quit.
On the GO slate former Arroyo allies like Manuel Villar, who Arroyo
herself groomed for the senate presidency, figure prominently.
Sotto admitted he joined the Arroyo ticket not on principle but only
after he and Oreta were dropped from the opposition slate.
âThere was a new list (of opposition candidates) and my friends were
left out,â he said recently.
âYou canât blame us for feeling bad. We are the political elders and
we were left out in favour of the prodigal sons.â
For Philippine senators, who are elected by the nation rather than by
province like their US counterparts who represent states,
name-recognition is crucial â and gives an edge to celebrities such as
film and sports stars.
Team Unity campaign manager Reli German says they are running on the
issue of economic growth but he admits âpeople vote on the basis of
awareness and popularity. This is a fact of Philippine political lifeâ.
It is the reason why movie star Cesar Montano is on Team Unityâs
senatorial slate even though he has no experience in government. But he
is not the first and will not be the last celebrity to be elected to
high office in the Philippines.
In trying to justify his run for the Senate, Montano acknowledged his
shortcomings, but also questioned whether brains were really that
important in politics.
âWe have had so many people who went into politics who were smart and
eloquent but let us ask, âwhat have they done for us?â Our (Asian)
neighbours have moved one foot (economically). We have moved one inch,â
he said in a recent television interview.
One of the most colourful senatorial candidates is veteran
coup-plotter and ex-army colonel Gregorio Honasan who led several bloody
coup attempts in the 1980s and is on trial for involvement in a coup
attempt against Arroyo in 2003.
Honasan is running as an independent while in detention and says he
is willing to be adopted by any party â including Arroyoâs Team Unity.
Not surprisingly, Arroyo turned him down.
Ex-world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, arguably the most popular
person in the country, abandoned plans to run for Congress after polls
showed the vast majority of his fans thought it would be a bad move.
The GO slate has a âstarâ of sorts among its candidate line-up: a
once-obscure navy lieutenant named Antonio Trillanes who skyrocketed to
fame when he led a one-day mutiny on July 2003 aimed at bringing down
Arroyo and installing a military junta.
Like Honasan, Trillanes campaigns from his prison cell while being
court-martialled for mutiny, using his network of supporters and the
Internet.
Although Trillanes is barred from granting interviews and his cell
has no Internet access, the military suspects sympathisers in the armed
forces are putting postings on his website for him.
Under the law any literate Filipino without a criminal record can run
for office. Trillanesâ trial has begun but no one knows how long it will
take.
One race that has grabbed a lot of local media attention is the
gubernatorial contest in the wealthy province of Batangas, south of
Manila, with sibling rivalry and showbiz in the mix.
Vilma Santos, one of the biggest movie stars in the Philippines, is
up against vice-governor Ricky Recto who is eyeing the same seat.
The fact that Santos is married to her rivalâs sibling, Senator Ralph
Recto, has complicated matters and led to some harsh words between the
siblings and in-laws, much to the delight of the media.
Senator Recto can hardly turn down his wife. After all, it was her
showbiz fame that first helped get him elected to the Senate in 2001.
Another incumbent senator, Francis Pangilinan, is running for
re-election as an independent without the backing of any political
party.
But then again Pangilinan has something better than a party â his
wife, Sharon Cuneta, the beloved âmegastarâ of Philippine show business.
Opinion polls show Pangilinan garnering the most votes on election day
due mainly to his wifeâs celebrity status.
Manila, Wednesday, AFP
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