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Philippine polls better than the gaudiest soaps

AFP, MANILA
Monday, Mar 26, 2007, Page 9

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 Arroyo's "Team Unity" is going up against the Genuine Opposition (GO).

But it is hard to tell what side anyone is on when Arroyo's 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.

"There was a new list [of opposition candidates] and my friends were left out," he said recently. "You can't blame us for feeling bad. We are the political elders and we were left out in favor of the prodigal sons."

For Philippine senators, who are elected by the nation rather than by province like their US counterparts who represent states, name-recognition is crucial -- 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 "people vote on the basis of awareness and popularity. This is a fact of Philippine political life."

It is the reason why movie star Cesar Montano is on Team Unity's 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.

The best example is movie star Joseph Estrada who was elected president in 1998 despite a reputation for gambling, drinking, sexual promiscuity and his lack of education.

Estrada's short presidency was noted for mismanagement and corruption.

Just 30 months after being elected by the biggest majority ever in Philippine politics, with just under 40 percent of the popular vote, he was ousted in a popular uprising in 2001 following a massive corruption scandal.

He is now detained and on trial for graft.

In trying to justify his run for the Senate, Montano acknowledged his shortcomings, but also questioned whether brains were really that important in politics.

"We have had so many people who went into politics who were smart and eloquent but let us ask, `what have they done for us?' Our [Asian] neighbors have moved one foot [economically]. We have moved one inch," he said in a recent television interview.

One of the most colorful 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 -- including Arroyo's 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 "star" 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-martialed 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 sympathizers in the armed forces are putting postings on his Web site for him.

Under the law any literate Filipino without a criminal record can run for office. Trillanes' trial has begun but no one knows how long it will take.

One race that has grabbed a considerable amount 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 rival's 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 -- his wife, Sharon Cuneta, the beloved "megastar" of Philippine show business.

Opinion polls show Pangilinan garnering the most votes on election day mainly thanks to his wife's celebrity status.
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