Showbiz and politics / Celia and Doy

The mixture or blending showbiz and politics, while an occasional occurrence in other countries, has reached a dizzying, mind-boggling crescendo in the Philippines. In my youth, the only movie personality who dared break into politics was Rogelio de la Rosa. Tall, wavy-haired, drop-dead handsome, Roger ran for the presidency (that was, I think, in the 60s) but didn’t stay the course. He eventually withdrew. The pun then was that Roger’s was "premature withdrawal" at a time his love affair with the statuesque and utterly divine Lota Delgado sizzled on the movie burner.

Lota, like Carmen Rosales, was his top leading lady. And Rogelio de la Rosa romanced them like nobody ever did before and after. He could sing with a rich baritone, talk eloquently in and out of a movie set, and oh yes, speak the King’s English without stabbing a consonant. Much later on, Roger was mustered into diplomacy where he also made a name. Ambassador to Cambodia for many years, he became a bosom friend of Norodom Sihanouk, Asia’s most famous diplomat, whose French wife Monique dazzled the diplomatic world with her beauty.

Ah, both loved beautiful women! Would you believe it? In time, Rogelio de la Rosa spoke French, reputedly the "language of love". When he finally retired in the late 60s, after occupying for many years the post of doyen, or dean of the foreign diplomatic corps in Phnom Penh, he spotted me at a reception. Roger, already white-haired but still devilishly good-looking, lost no time, spiritedly engaged me in the language he now spoke with dare-devil dash and assurance – French.

It was amazing this switch from Tagalog in the movies, to English in international diplomacy, to French in the dovecote of diplomacy. Roger had the facility because he was intelligent, was never at a loss for words, and could discourse on the international situation. He probably studied at the feet of Sihanouk, who had a rapier for a mind, and could talk for hours on French literature and diplomacy without boring his audience.

Had Rogelio de la Rosa persisted and triumphed, would he have become an effective president of the Philippines? Maybe. He had many things going for him. Roger was very unlike today’s inane and idiotic movie celebrities who have the brains of an amoeba, the chatter of a baboon, and the imagination of a toadstool.

What a pity because it was Rogelio de la Rosa who pioneered the movie celebrity itch to crash into politics. What a greater pity because those who followed after him – eventually a flood – just didn’t have what it takes to inject creative blood into politics. Look at them today. Joseph Estrada succeeded where Rogelio de la Rosa slipped into limbo – the presidency. With Estrada’s ouster from Malacañang as the tidal wave of EDSA II hit him, this should have slammed the door on showbiz.

It didn’t. On the contrary, the celebrity itch swelled into monster proportions. Now, FPJ rides the opposition presidential chariot.

Why? The reasons are many. First, professional politicians had failed. And they failed because politics had deteriorated into an ugly grab-bag of graft and corruption. "Service to the people" slithered into the sink-hole. Second, the movies, media celebrity became the temple for entertaining the masses, succoring the poor from their poverty and misery. In his time, Erap Estrada became more popular than anybody else. After his time, Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ) followed. In their train, Senate wannabes like Lito Lapid, and Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada, cropped up like mushrooms. Their forebears like Claro Recto, Jose P. Laurel and Ninoy Aquino rolled in their graves.

And now, Dolphy, the King of Comedy, teeters on the vine.

It’s just possible the world of professional politics has had enough. The fear is that if they don’t draw a line in the ground today, showbiz will sooner or later gobble up what used to be their monopoly. For this, Dolphy is being punished. He is hip-deep in the presidential campaign for FPJ. He probably blundered in doing so. For in the past, Dolphy stayed away from politics, refused even to endorse Erap Estrada, rejected even disdained all offers for him to run for the presidency.

Now Dolphy has crossed the line. He is in the forefront of the FPJ campaign, a big, jumbo plus for Da King. Now Dolphy must pay.

Reports are that he will be bumped off ABS-CBN and lose his prize TV sitcom Home Along Da Airport. Virtually the whole movie world has rallied round Dolphy, ostensibly led by Richard Gomez, Armida Siguion-Reyna and producer Marichu Maceda. Names like Vic Sotto, Joey de Leon, Christopher de Leon, Edgar Mortiz, Tirso Cruz III are strung on the propaganda marquee. I have never seen anything like it.

Yes, as we predicted, the electoral campaign would be rough, tough and terribly dirty, a knock-down-and-drag-out brawl with no rules or restrictions to govern it. Whoever thought this would come about?

I can almost hear the stentorian voice of Arsenio H. Lacson pounding the air and introducing the protagonists. In this corner, the president of the Philippines, GMA no less and the republic’s professional politicians. In that corner, FPJ, Erap, and their endless retinue of movie and media celebrities.

The first commands the entire government led by Congress and the judiciary with their labyrinthine bureaucracy, its treasury, the military and police establishment. The second commands the vote and loyalty of the masses, that vast sweep called the citizenry. And yet in the final analysis, Mao Zedong was right. Political power comes out of the barrel of a gun. The government commands that gun.

Who will triumph? Is this the battle of the titans?

In the short run, I suppose, GMA and her assigns will win. They command the treasury, the truncheon and the gun. I really do not know if Richard Gomez, Armida Siguion-Reyna and Jinggoy Estrada have the intestinal fortitude to face water cannon, tear gas, and concussion bomb. And I also do not know if, under extreme provocation, the military and the police will shoot.

This is unusual. The middle class, civil society filled the breach during EDSA I and EDSA II. Now it will be the celebrity world and their mass supporters? We are not even talking about the warm bodies of the Left, the main protagonist in a class war. Nor the veterans of the two EDSAs.

All we know, if this confrontation should occur, Rogelio de la Rosa – were he alive today – would exclaim goggle-eyed in his inimitable French: Mon Dieu, quel cirque! Les barbares nous ont envahi! (My God, what a circus! The barbarians have invaded us!)

* * *

We have here a short but poignant note sent by Celia Laurel, which bears printing in full:

I am sorry that it has taken me this long to write. I have been meaning to do so since I read your unforgettable column and listened to our poignant speech extolling Doy’s courageous deeds.

These are so true of Doy who, from the time I knew him as a teenager, had always imagined himself to be a knight in shining armor – a Man of La Mancha – who would dare "march into hell for a heavenly cause". That is why he sang Impossible Dream with such feeling because it expressed his innermost passions.

His lifetime’s cause was always to serve the country and people as his father did which he pursued to the end.

I always knew him to be strong and vigorous – so full of energy and drive. He seemed – indestructible. So it was difficult to accept that his illness would overtake him. I had hoped and prayed that he would emerge victorious. But little by little he succumbed. And slowly, but amazingly, he was transformed.

As his flesh diminished, his mind and his spirituality grew, so that he met Death – with his customary courage – and with great serenity knowing that he had done his best during his borrowed time.

I was deeply touched by the outpouring of sympathy – the eloquent eulogies, the flowers, the prayers – and even more so – I am deeply grateful and proud he was given a State Funeral befitting the statesman and hero he strove to be all his life.

Witnessing all this from a different plane must have assuaged the hurts he suffered in his life. His last plea to me was "I want my total vindication!"

Thank you for being his friend and loving him as we do – my children and I are deeply grateful to you for lightening our otherwise inconsolable loss."