‘FPJ plan known in 24 hrs’

Twenty-four hours to curtain call.

This was how supporters of movie actor Fernando Poe Jr. felt as his spokesman Sen. Vicente Sotto III announced that the action star would likely announce "within 24 hours" from yesterday whether he would run for president next year.

Sotto, himself a television show host and comedy actor before being elected to the Senate in 1992, said he was to meet last night with Poe, but the actor’s political handlers want the best timing for the formal announcement.

"I will be in a better position to announce the definite decision of Mr. Poe on whether he will run or not either tonight or within 24 hours," Sotto said.

"We are still waiting for the right time to announce his decision," Sotto added, stressing that Poe’s announcement may even have to wait another week.

The senator said Poe, popularly known by his initials "FPJ," had earlier wanted to make his announcement on Nov. 15 but was forced to postpone it because he wanted to make sure he would be supported by ordinary people and not just politicians.

"Mr. Poe wants to make sure that the call for him to run for president does not only come from the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) or his friends but from the people themselves," Sotto said.

Poe’s primary consideration was popular support and he would not run for president next year if politicians including his bosom friend, jailed former President Joseph Estrada, were the only ones pushing his candidacy, Sotto said.

Sotto earlier dismissed speculations that Poe cannot run for president because he is not a natural-born Filipino citizen as required by the Constitution. Poe’s brother, the late Andy Poe, was the only US citizen in the Poe family, Sotto said.

"Poe’s father was a natural-born citizen (from) Pangasinan. Except for Andy Poe who was an American citizen, all of (FPJ’s) brothers and sisters chose Philippine citizenship. You can get Mr. Poe’s birth certificate in Pangasinan," Sotto said.

The pressure on Poe to run for president on an earlier declaration that she would not stand in the May 2004 elections.

But other potential opposition standard-bearers said they will accede to Poe only if he goes through a selection process.

Meanwhile, Speaker Jose de Venecia admitted yesterday that the May 2004 elections will be "tough" for everybody and will ultimately be a "battle of the mass media."

"It (will) be a battle of the mass media, a propaganda battle. One’s victory or defeat will be decided there," De Venecia said during the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) forum in Makati City.

He remained confident that Mrs. Arroyo, who will bank on her performance record, will be a strong contender in the elections as well as Poe and opposition Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson.

"(But) the opposition is fragmented. FPJ is a good candidate but you also have Ping. They will erase each other," De Venecia said, noting that another plus for the President is her links to the international community that has brought economic assistance.

"Her indefatigable activities are reaching far and wide," he said, stressing that several political parties like the Liberal Party and Nacionalista Party have already expressed support for the President in 2004.

He added that influential religious groups and other sectoral groups seem to be inclined towards supporting the President. — With Nikko Dizon