There are news reports that simply do my head in. One such news is the announcement that more celebrities are entering Philippine politics in 2013. Judging from how most Filipino voters voted in the past, once the announcement is made, it’s pretty much a sure win for these celebrities. Come Election Day, the voting process is just for formalities. Filipinos, never learn from their mistakes, indeed. I guess some of us will just have to accept the fact that going into politics is the next “logical” step for former actors and actresses in the Philippines. And the real reason why they win is because most Filipino voters are star-struck ignoramuses.
Someone even suggested that filmmakers need to make more films pronto because there’s just not enough films going around for the hundreds of unemployed “talents” in showbiz nowadays and that fact is making even has-beens want to enter politics. After all, showbiz and politics are both industries that cater to those who are a bit of a narcissist. Many politicians over estimate their ability to be administrators or legislators. It’s quite bizarre really, considering most of them cannot even manage their own personal lives let alone come up with a sensible legislative agenda or administer a district, town or perhaps the whole country.
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Truth be told, a lot of people in Philippine politics are people who actually believe in themselves too much. They think they are the right man (or woman) for the job even when they are not. It shouldn’t be a mystery any more why most Filipinos treat their public servants like celebrities. It’s because the majority of public servants are former actors, actresses and sports athletes or their relatives. The latter simply take over the position once the term of their famous relations expires.
Indeed, whether one is famous or relatively unknown, in the Philippines it is easier to enter politics if one is related to a politician. The saying, “keeping it in the family” is taken to the extreme in our society. Take the case of Alma “Alindog” Moreno a.k.a. the “Sex Goddess of Philippine Movies” in the ’70s and ’80s. Although she was already famous in her own right, one doesn’t have to dig deep into her history to know that she used to be married to the former Mayor and actor, Joey Marquez.
It would be safe to assume that if she hadn’t been associated with a politician once before, joining politics would not have entered her head. It is interesting to note that Moreno’s marriage collapsed (strangely, the couple were granted an annulment despite being married for 12 years with 2 kids) the same year she lost her bid in the mayoralty race of Paranaque City in 2004. Despite her estrangement from Marquez, she still pursued her career in politics and was elected Councilor of the City of Paranaque 2007. It seems there is no stopping Alma from aiming higher. Now that she is on her last term as Councilor, she announced that she “is definitely running for Senator in the 2013 mid-term elections under Sen. Bong Revilla’s BagongLAKAS-CMD party”.
Not bad for someone who used to dance in noontime shows wearing a high-cut outfit called the “tangga”- attire similar to what Lady Gaga would wear in her concerts and music videos. The Senate halls will never be the same again once Alma joins the debates. I say good luck to the next Supreme Court Judge who will be impeached. There will be more senators who graduated from the school of dramatic arts joining the Senate who will cast a “guilty” vote.
Alma will not feel like a stranger in the Senate because Senator Lito Lapid will be there to guide her. The action star has no trouble getting along with his learned colleagues in the Senate because he has his “conscience” to guide him in doing his job. Lapid even used his conscience in deciding to convict Chief Justice Renato Corona during his impeachment trial. The Senator said, “he was representing the masses who did not understand the law and who did not understand much English” because he was “just a high school graduate from Pampanga”. After 43 days of just passively listening to the trial, it was likely Congressman Rodolfo Fariñas’s closing arguments, which he delivered in Tagalog, that helped convince Senator Judges like Lapid that Corona was guilty. This goes to show that most of the technical details of the proceedings just flew over the heads of actors-turned-senators like Lapid. But, I digress…
Other notable actors-turned-Senators are Bong “Panday” Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada and Tito Sotto. The list will keep getting longer because even Ruffa Gutierrez’s mother, Annabelle Rama will be running for Congress in 2013. It will be more fun in the Philippines, for sure. Her presence in Congress will certainly complete the cast of the so-called “distinguished” men and women of Congress with the likes of Congressman Niel Tupas paving the way for the celebration of mediocrity. The House would officially become Jolog Central. Ruffa was even so excited to announce her mom’s bid on her Twitter account:
“Mom @annabellerama2 excitedly tells me that she’s being offered to run for Congresswoman in her hometown in Cebu. I’m like, whatttt?? Kaloka,” she said.
Rama replied to Gutierrez’ tweet, saying that it wasn’t her fault that she was offered to run for the North District of Cebu.
“Bakit ka ba na shocked! Kasalanan ko ba kung ako ang napili para sa North District of Cebu?” she said.
It’s all in the bag. As I mentioned earlier, Election Day will just be formalities for these former celebrities running for public office. Let us congratulate them now. There is no need to wait. We should accept the fact that the least educated lot is now ruling our country. I even lamented the plight of the educated elites in my previous article.
It must be hard being an intellectual. Just think of all the names they call people with all the answers to the problems of the world: “nerd”; “geek”; “eccentric”; “weird”; “odd”. That’s not to mention how they get bullied, ostracised and even labeled “pretentious” just by simply trying to help solve the big puzzles of the universe. Life must not be easy for those who are trying to simulate the Big Bang or those who are collecting data to prove climate change. Who believes these people anyway? Not a lot of us if you think about it. There are too many sceptics in the world and there are those who even oppose any research that are seen to not be beneficial to the corporations who earn a lot of money from people’s excessive lifestyle habits.
Boy, there must be a lot of smart people in the mental hospital. I can imagine a lot of them getting frustrated with regular folks who are too ignorant and arrogant to even realise what’s good for them. Have you ever tried having a discussion with someone who just doesn’t get it? It can be really frustrating. If you let them affect you, you could be driven to put your head in an oven and turn up the heat to “High”.
Ignorant people outnumber the thinkers in this world. If you don’t add gloss and glamour to your cause, most likely it will go unnoticed.
In life, things are not always what they seem.
“Truth be told, a lot of people in Philippine politics are people who actually believe in themselves too much.”
Relevant: http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/05/revisiting-why-incompetents-think-theyre-awesome/
Thanks for that link!
I was thinking of that Ars Technica article when I read this.
Actress who has lost their fame? Jobless and can’t find new acting gigs? Have no actual talent? RUN FOR SENATE!
It’s the next “logical” step.
Kaya nga mas bilib pa ako sa mga ibang artista sa atin na pumunta rito sa Middle East to get an actual job rather than be politicians.
It all starts with that phrase: “I want to serve my country.”
Yeah, right.
They will have the last laugh as usual. Just a little show of emotion before the cameras will get them elected. It won’t stop there, for the names mentioned in the article is just the beginning. You and I know there will be more. The masses are eager for more showbiz personalities who could echo their sentiments in a way they can relate to…like Lito Lapid.
Boink!
In addition, I heard Richard Gomez and Aga Muchlach will be running too. What a joke.
Indeed. They’re not even originally from the places where they intend to run. The way celebrities are running for public office, I feel like it’s 1998-2001 again.
My country, my Philippines: the country of the Dumb and the Damned…
If only the brilliant defense lawyers can run for public office. *Sigh*
Why would they, mahawa pa sila sa kabugukan sa Congress at Senate?
It’s funny how these entertainers always say that they are preparing for public office by enrolling for a public administration degree barely a year before the elections or get a crash course on legislation upon winning the elections.
Other entertainers who are rumored to be vying for political posts next year are:
Aga Muhlach – Congressman (Camarines Sur)
Jolo Revilla – Vice Governor (Cavite)
Onemig Bondoc – Vice Governor (Bataan)
Polo Ravales – Board Member (Bataan)
Richard Gomez – Mayor (Ormoc City, Leyte)
http://entertainment.inquirer.net/43273/richard-gomez-plans-to-run-for-mayor-of-ormoc%E2%80%94wife
It may be wishful thinking, but I hope they all lose miserably next year.
I don’t even know some of the names there. Gees. But I bet they’ll all win. Sorry, but your wish won’t come true.
Perfect example of an entertainer who doesn’t really know what he’s getting into.
http://www.showbiz-portal.com/2012/03/polo-ravales-to-run-as-board-member-in.html
“Sa next election, balak ko ring tumakbo as board members sa amin sa Bataan. I’ll be taking up public administration for this.—
The motto is “get the job first and study how to do it later”.
Lito Lapid’s excuse of “makamasa” because he “just graduated high school” is an insult to real hard-working people everywhere.
Fecksakes, my grandfather barely made it to third grade thanks to poverty, but he was trusted by his employers enough to run the gold smelter at Philex back in the day. And that job required more than just a fair command of the English language.
Now we got the rest of the national idiocy wanting a piece of the political pie. Congratulations, Philippines: That these zombies should even think about better chances in politics shows your national IQ has hit the earth’s core.
I hate the fact that Lito Lapid just made it easier for the average Juan Tamad to justify that they don’t have to work hard to get to the Senate. I can’t get over it.
lol 😉
someone should compile a list of all the congressmen who have been subject to proceedings.
it would show what a house of ill-repute it really is and is used as much as anything as a mechanism to escape prosecution
a list of educational/professional qualifications would also show it is the most uneducated legislative chamber in the world.
and with 80% being millionairres the corruption speaks for itself
Something has to be done. Pretty soon Philippines will be dominated by showbiz personalities! The uneducated Manny Pacquiao is not far along who dreamed to be president someday. His conscience might also decide the fate of the Philippine with China. This has been my argument before.
The one that bothers me, why can’t we have a strict laws limiting the people who wants to be politicians. For starter, they have to be educated and attended a 5 solid college years. by the way, 2 weeks crashed course is not allowed and 6 months certificate taken at Harvard University just to have it in their is not permitted.
Juan de la Cruz cannot just start doing open heart surgeries, he has to go to medical school!
Juan de la Cruz cannot just start practicing to be a lawyer, he has to go to law school!
Juan de la Cruz cannot just start giving IV infusion to patients, he has to go to nursing school!
Juan de la Cruz cannot just start doing architectural work, he has to go to architectural school!
Juan de la Cruz cannot just start dispensing medication to be given to patients, he has to go to pharmacy school.
To be president of the Philippines. Juan de la Cruz just need to be 40 yrs old, Filipino citizen, & stupid then you can run for office.
Even though you have a conscience to guide you to make your decision, you need some kind of intelligence to rightfully govern the people. I respect more the people who are actually working in the malls, mcdonalds, BPO center… Most of them could not get a job unless they are a college graduate.
Here is some of the list of showbiz personalities who I remembered became politicians or wants to be politician who has no education.
Lito Lapid
Bobong Revilla Jr.
Ramon Revilla Sr.
Joseph Estrada
Manny Pacquaio
Richard Gomez
Alma Moreno
Aga Muchlach — I attended HS with him and he is dumbed and dumbest as he can be.
Please help me out if I left anyone out.
Assuming our elected politicians are reallly voted in legitimately, they really are a reflection of us. Who we want to see lead us throu crisis and towards prosperity. They are a manifestation of the Pinoy value system. A few years ago, many would have you believe pinoys valued Penaflorida ‘s goal of literacy. Nope. Pinoys valued the pansin available by being on CNN. Our values just make me shake my head.
http://edrlopez.blogspot.com/2009/11/hypocrisy-of-recognition-and-admiration.html
I commiserate with the premise of the article above. It is really the lamentable truth in our electoral process. But the question is, what can we do about it?
These people (celebrities) violated no law to be forbidden to participate as candidates on elections. They also easily comply with the election requirements for qualification. So, there is really nothing one can do about it to prevent them from running.
And I don’t advocate prevention. That’s discrimination.
Sometimes, I think all these things about celebrities running for public office is the fault of the professional or traditional politicians. Remember the time when these celebs or artistas used to be just props of political campaigns or ‘miting de avances’ of political figures? Their presence in political gatherings was meant to invite or call the attention of people. They are just there to entertain and get paid for their service afterwards. And since by nature politicos are boring, they became part and parcel of election circus in terms of shows or performances as invited guests of politicos.
In the course of such practice, these celebs and artistas, being exposed as they were to politics/politicians, were able to get a first hand knowledge of how it is to engage in politics or in public service. The realization that they can also be what they want to be was more strengthened by the fact that they already have the popularity or popular factor. The main ingredient to win an election.
Once they dipped their feet on the political waters, as they say, the rest is history.
I wanted to be familiar with what can refrain from a bee in one’s animation so that’s roughly it not who could not give an literal answer.
There’s really nothing wrong if your profession was an artista. There are people like Isko Moreno who used their hard earned money from being an artista for their education. But man if you’re 40 and still want to learn on the job then obviously becoming a politician was just a spur of the moment decision. Midlife crisis much 🙁
Journalists go to University of the Philippines, a Harvard-like (daw) institution. They are tahegtud to drink, smoke (because journalists ought to smoke and drink like in the movies they watch because it is cool), pack and read heavy textbooks from Americans. They are goot in englischtzes, too! They have a flair for it. They are literary geniuses who has no tolerance to double tenses and extra superlatives.Do they report news like what American textbooks instructed? Are they responsible or irresponsible journalists? Do they have editorial freedom? HAVE THEY LEARNED?Answer is big fat NO ! They are toxic and corrosive and ignorant and oblivious. It is unfortunate Filipinos look at them as intellectuals and professionals because of flair of englischtzes and impeccable spellings.HAVE THEY LEARNED? NO !