Joke only

With all those disqualification cases filed against President Arroyo in the past weeks, her closest rival Fernando Poe Jr. should have already pulled away from her in the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Instead Poe is ahead by just 2 percent, and there’s little good news coming from his camp these days. Yesterday the report was that the rift had worsened between the factions of Sen. Vicente Sotto III and the one identified with deposed President Joseph Estrada and the Partido ng Masang Pilipino. Such stories keep coming out despite repeated denials from the so-called ASO group of Senators Edgardo Angara, Sotto and Tessie Oreta that they have formed a cordon sanitaire around FPJ. Talks persist that Rod Reyes and his group are still being marginalized.

There are reports that money isn’t reaching the field lieutenants of FPJ’s Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino. It’s uncertain whether or not the FPJ war chest is truly depleted or someone from the KNP is keeping the funds for himself.

A similar funding calamity reportedly contributed to the defeat of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. when he ran for president in 1998. Or maybe that was just a consoling thought. De Venecia, after all, was up against Joseph Estrada and his formidable mass base, a solid voting bloc that included the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) and El Shaddai.

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FPJ, as you may have already noticed by now, is no Erap. In the past week alone FPJ and his camp have succeeded in turning off the INC and the press. I don’t think it’s due to lack of experience on the campaign trail; FPJ barnstormed for his buddy Erap in every political race that Erap joined.

Neither can it be said that FPJ hasn’t received enough warning about his temperamental outbursts. At the start of the campaign he had snapped at a journalist, earning for him the sobriquet "taray king" – to the delight, of course, of "taray queen" GMA and that other candidate with a bad case of andropause, Raul Roco.

Tito Sotto only made things worse by trying to dismiss the incident between FPJ and GMA-7 reporter Sandra Aguinaldo as a joke. This isn’t exactly surprising, considering the sleazy jokes we used to get from the comedy triumvirate of Tito, Vic and Joey. On this one, however, the joke was on FPJ. And up to the moment he shook hands with a very reluctant Aguinaldo, FPJ still seemed clueless about what he had done to merit such condemnation.

The joke was also on FPJ when his other bosom buddy, comedian Dolphy, said he was just joking when he called the President "tonto" or stupid. Dolphy, at least, redeemed himself by issuing what looked like a heartfelt apology to the President.

FPJ must bear in mind that the antics of his supporters all reflect on him. When people see him without a grip on his warring camp, they see a future president without a grip on a nation that is in dire need of firm control.

Poe has repeatedly reassured the nation that he is his own man, that he won’t do the bidding of anyone (except perhaps his strong-willed wife). But that’s not the picture that has emerged from the Poe campaign. It’s bad enough that Poe is reinforcing an image painted by his enemies — that he will be a puppet president, with the nation never knowing who is truly running the government. What’s worse is the image of a president who can’t even decide which puppet master he should obey.

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The word from the FPJ camp yesterday was that he would take a long Holy Week break from campaigning. That’s putting a lot of faith on that two percent lead in the SWS survey and in the prognostications of his fans in the fortune-telling business.

His closest rival, meanwhile, continues to work like a dog for those crucial votes, focusing on areas known to be Poe bailiwicks. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo often tells people that she believes in providence, that God will take care of the rest if she does her best. But obviously she also believes that God helps those who help themselves. So this Holy Week – except perhaps on Good Friday – she will continue to give God all the help He might need.

Even the three other rivals are working their butts off and putting on the charm for a job that will require the same drive and dedication to public service as well as endurance for pesky journalists. Give these candidates an A for persistence. Through several elections SWS has established a track record in reliability, and its latest polls show only two candidates running neck and neck for the presidency in May. But who knows? Providence is not the monopoly of President Arroyo.

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FPJ could take some tips from Erap on winning hearts and minds. Detained without bail, charged with an offense that could land him in the lethal injection chamber, Erap continues to charm the public. When he grouses about being dehin goli or stinking from lack of water for a shower, he still wins public sympathy. You can’t help smiling when he floods his critics with DVDs and VCDs (not pirated, mind you) explaining why he is innocent of plunder.

But Poe must be taking the advice of certain people to keep his distance from Erap because their friendship could fudge his campaign message of stamping out corruption.

They must be the same people who are advising him that there is no need for opposition unity. Which faction thinks he is so sure of winning he doesn’t need even the support of the Iglesia ni Cristo?

FPJ and his wife have reportedly mended fences with the INC’s Eraño Manalo. Did they tell him that the statement, attributed to Rod Reyes, was a joke?

With just a month left in this close race, FPJ and his handlers should be told that while the presidency may be easy picking for a movie superstar like him, it is no joking matter. Filipinos are said to be quick to laughter and easy to please – mababaw ang kaligayahan – but we can’t keep laughing away the serious problems besetting our nation. We could laugh with FPJ and the clowns around him – if it didn’t pain us too much to even break into a grin. If Fernando Poe Jr. doesn’t watch out, the joke could be on him.