got this from a mailing list i belong to:
Last year, Fernando Poe, Jr. said he wasn'tgoing to run for president; last December,
President Gloria Arroyo said she wasn't going to
run for president. I don't know how they make
their decisions, but it sure sounds like they do
it on a whim because today both of them are
talking about their "sacrifices" - how hard the
next six years are going to be for their
families, how they have to give up their privacy,
how they have to deal with the criticism and mud
slinging and how much they love this country. Oh
please. You're all beginning to sound like Kris
Aquino.
When FPJ announced his intention to run, I
panicked when I saw Susan Roces looking
alarmingly like Imelda as she cried on TV and
said that her husband was running because he just
wanted to help the people, so why is everybody so
mean to him? I kept thinking, oh my God, is she
going to break into Dahil sa Iyo?
That scared the hell out of me. That and the
clip where FPJ mumbled through his one-on-one
interview with ABS-CBN wearing shades. Did he
perhaps misplace a wristband? Or when he was
asked about his economic policies and he said ...
what did he say? Nothing, that's what.
You'd think if you were going to announce your
presidential ambitions
you would have at least prepared something
-anything - on how you were going to lead the
country aside from the overused line about being
the savior the masses need.
Now showbiz people are complaining of the
criticism FPJ is receiving. Their loyalty is
fascinating. I can watch their display on TV all
day and be alternately amazed and confused about
whether part of their brain goes on auto pilot
when they're talking about FPJ.
It's the same kind of loyalty for Erap, which led
Senator Tessie Oreta to do that little jig in the
Senate during the impeachment proceedings. Look
where it got Erap.
You don't know whether their loyalty to FPJ comes
from personally knowing he has the brains to lead
the country or simply because they belong to the
same profession. There must be something about
show business that creates this strong bond, this
persecution complex that leads them to think that
because they are actors people think they're
stupid.
In this country that has elected showbiz people
and made them mayors, councilors, governors and
senators barangay captains, and hell, even
president - why do they still complain of a bias
against their profession? You don't hear
electricians saying, "Oh they'll never elect us
into office!" And you certainly don't hear
economists fanatically defending GMA just because
she is one. We all know there are many
accomplished actors whose achievements go beyond
their profession. You see their every move in
newspapers every day, for God's sake.
The biggest bias against FPJ is not that he is an
actor, but that he may lack the skills,
temperament, and attitude to become a leader.
People say he has such a kind heart,
unquestionable sincerity and that he has helped a
lot of people through the years - shouldn't this
be enough? No, it's not.
I need my president - whoever he or she is - to
be better than the average Juan. I want him to
know history and poetry as well as economics, to
be able to quote Shakespeare and argue with Allan
Greenspan, to stand shoulder to shoulder with
the world's most powerful leaders, to make me
proud - not to make me laugh- when I see him on
TV.
I want to love my president and I want to respect
him. I want a president who doesn't have to
surround himself with economists to know how to
run the country. I want him to know these things
on his own and listen to advice but not be
influenced by people who have a different agenda.
I want to talk about my president to foreigners
without being embarrassed, without shaking my
head and saying, "Well, Filipinos aren't the most
mature electorate in the universe." I don't want
to hear that Filipino doctors are now studying to
become nurses just to apply for jobs abroad or
college students choosing their courses based on
what the most popular jobs are in other
countries.
Sincerity is a beautiful thing, but it's not the
only thing that makes a president great.
In1998, when Erap was elected, I was hoping he
would succeed, that since he was wildly popular
and beloved, he was going to do good.
But lookwhat he did. He surrounded himself with advisers
and friends, he drank and he womanized - oh ho
whe womanized - and how they built their
mansions. Does anybody remember any of this?
It was as if he was chipping away at the stature
of the presidency and the country piece by
piece. He said the most god-awful embarrassing
things at the most unfortunate moments. The
things that
saw print, they weren't even close to what
editors wouldn't print because they were just so
stupid and depressing. He didn't inspire the poor
to do better - he just fueled their anger and
pointed it to the wrong direction.
You don't have a house? You don't have a job?
Blame the past presidents, blame the rich, blame
the middle class. He never said, well, why don't
you get off your asses and look for work? He
didn't encourage people to work harder because he
didn't improve the economy. He blamed the rich,
played to the poor and completely forgot about
the middle class who didn't cheat on their taxes
or steal other people's land.
Like Erap, FPJ polarizes people. It's the kind
that creates so much anger and distrust on both
sides. This early, the people surrounding him
are far from reassuring. Tito Sotto? After
showing his fantastic grasp of economics, of what
drives foreign exchange? Hello?
This is not Eat Bulaga, sir. Nobody is laughing.
Somebody should pinch FPJ and tell him this is
not the movies. That he cannot fight off our
Asian neighbors for measly investment with his
magic sword. Erap and now Ang Panday. It's so
depressing I want to cry.
A friend warned me about pissing off FPJ. She
said, "Be careful what you write about him, he
may be your next
president.
"What's he gonna do, drop an anvil on my head?
