Palace heaves sigh of relief after FPJ denial

Palace officials heaved a sigh of relief yesterday after movie icon Fernando Poe Jr. denied that he has agreed to run against President Arroyo in 2004.

Acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable Jr. said Poe himself came out in several radio interviews to deny that his bosom buddy, jailed former President Joseph Estrada, has persuaded him to run for president in May 2004.

Although the Arroyo administration does not want to talk about politics two years before the next presidential elections, Afable admitted that Palace officials felt a measure of relief when they received monitoring reports saying Poe had denied being interested in the presidency.

"(Poe) denied it. He said in radio interviews that he has no intention of going into politics," Afable told Palace reporters. "He also does not want that slogan (of Ang Panday vs Ang Pandak) because it is disrespectful to the presidency."

Poe started being called Panday (Smith) after his hit movie where he portrayed a pre-Hispanic smith who battled fantastic forces of evil. Pandak means "short in height" and evidently refers to Mrs. Arroyo who stands 4 feet, 10 inches.

Two other Palace officials, presidential adviser on political affairs Joey Rufino and presidential adviser on church and media affairs Conrado Limcaoco, also felt "offended" by the movie-like title.

"The analogy is very insulting," said Rufino in Filipino, adding that it is insulting not only to the presidency but also to the millions of carpenters, who are also sometimes called "panday."

Rufino said history is replete with stories about excellent leaders in the Philippines and the world, like our national hero Jose Rizal and American statesman George Washington, who were not tall.

"Sino ba ang naka-pusoy kay Goliath? Hindi ba ang maliit na si David (Who trumped Goliath? Was it not the small David)?" he added.

Rufino charged that alleged plans to persuade Poe to run for president in 2004 were hatched by the camp of Estrada to ensure that the former president is acquitted of the crimes he is now facing before the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan.

"Siyempre gusto niya (Estrada), kaibigan niya ang manalo para mabigyan siya ng pardon. Baka maka-tsamba, mapakawalan siya. Ganyan kababaw ang planong iyan (Of course he [Estrada] wants a friend of his to win so he will be given a pardon. If he’s lucky, he can be released. That plan is that shallow)," Rufino said.

Ultimately, Rufino said, Mrs. Arroyo’s performance in office, and not her popularity, would still be the key to her being re-elected in 2004.

Limcaoco, for his part, refused to talk at length about the matter and said the Estrada camp was merely trying to get a sense of how the public would react if Poe indeed runs for president in 2004.

"It’s like a test, a trial balloon to gauge public reaction. I don’t think we should pay attention to it. It’s too early to discuss that. We should not give it much credence," Limcaoco said.

"I think it’s too speculative. It’s too early. It’s too premature," Limcaoco told The STAR in a telephone interview.