She added, "Besides being more cruel than showbiz, politics requires a lot of patience, a lot of hard work and a lot of determination. It’s not for those with a weak heart and a weak stomach. You have to give up a lot."
One of the things Mayor Vi has to sacrifice is her showbiz career which she has put "on hold" during the election campaign (starting March 25 for local positions). Regal Matriarch Mother Lily offered Vi a movie for Mother’s Day in May, which would have started shooting this month, but Vi politely turned it down because the Election Code prohibits stars from doing movies and/or appearing on TV until after the May 10 elections.
"But Mother and I will soon discuss another project, possibly Mano Po 3, which might be the only movie I’ll be doing this year," revealed Vi who has also postponed a TV special long earmarked for her by ABS-CBN.
That should enlighten Vilmanians and other Vilma-watchers who have been wondering if Vi has quit showbiz for good.
"There was a time when my bank account was zero," said Vi whose salary from her movie/TV work is deposited in a separate bank book. "I was so engrossed in my duties as Lipa Mayor that I turned down movie and TV offers. But I have no regrets at all having made such sacrifices. I get a different kind of fulfillment from serving the people. ’Yung naniniwala ang mga tao na may magagawa ka sa kanila, wow, ang sarap ng feeling!"
Even if she has made the rounds of Lipa City (including its barangays), Vi plans to campaign in every nook and cranny of her "territory" which she should by now know like the lines on her palms. Lipeños believe that Vi doesn’t have to campaign as hard as she did in the two previous elections, since her performance eloquently speaks for her.
Running under the LAKAS-NUCD banner, Vi took a crash course in Public Administration in UP where she had Mario Bautista’s wife Vicky as teacher in Minimum Basic Needs (MBN).
"What I learned from that crash course is very effective and very useful in my work," swore Vi who makes it a point to pay barangays a visit every now and then to check on, that’s it, the residents’ minimum basic needs. "But, of course, I’m lucky to have very good advisers, one of them Ralph (her Senator-husband) who guides me all the way and helps me especially where budgetting and legal matters are concerned."
FPJ, Vi’s leading man in a few movies (Bato sa Buhangin, etc.), is running for President under the opposition banner but Vi stressed that she has nothing but respect for him. "But then," she explained, "I have to toe our party line. FPJ will always be my friend; he’s a good man. I’m sure he understands and he won’t take it against me that I’m in the administration party."
As Funfare mentioned several weeks ago, Bro. Eddie Villanueva offered Vi as his running-mate.
"I was flattered that Bro. Eddie considered me. I received the offer on a Saturday but by that time I was already preparing to file my candidacy in Lipa the following Monday. But I did pray for guidance and I’m sure I made the right decision."
She was also offered to run for Governor of Batangas but Vi said no.
"I’m not a power-tripper," she said. "I could not turn my back on my constituents in Lipa. If I did, ano’ng klaseng leader ang labas ko? I promised the Lipeños that I’d continue what I’ve started and I’m determined to keep that promise."
The month-long vacation she and Ralph, along with son Ryan Christian (but not Luis/Lucky who had commitments here), spent in Los Angeles from Dec. 22 last year to Jan. 17 gave Vi a chance to recharge herself. She and the rest of the Santoses (her mom Milagros, sisters Winnie and Emelyn, brother Sonny and others) had a family reunion.
"It was purely rest and recreation," said Vi. "A hard-earned holiday."
Lesley Jean "Shine" de Mesa Samson (5’8"; 33-23-35), named Miss Philippines-Fire (third runner-up) in last year’s Miss Philippines-Earth contest, left last Feb. 18 for Costa Rica on a Korean Airlines flight to represent the country in the 2004 Model of the Year International Pageant slated on Saturday, Feb. 28. Sixty girls are competing.
Unanimously chosen by Carousel Productions, Inc., organizer of Miss Philippines-Earth and Miss Earth International contests, Shine is the youngest and only daughter among the four children of Edgardo Samson and Irma de Mesa of Guagua, Pampanga; currently a Management junior at Assumption. She was discovered by talent scouts Roy Martinez and Jun Landan.
(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph)