Star complex

The way Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. is treating the media leaves much to be desired. He is showing the best and the worst of what is called "star complex." And he is not even president yet. You can imagine how he will be acting if he becomes president.

Yesterday’s papers carried the story about how the movie star shunned the press during a provincial sortie, and when he was later fenced in, he said words to the effect that the media had been unfair to him, that when he said something, it would not come out.

In last Tuesday’s issue of The Philippine STAR, reporter Paolo Romero recounted the previous day’s chapter in the "romance" of da king and the media covering him. One was his second run-in with GMA-7 reporter Sandra Aguinaldo. He had accosted her early April when Sandra was standing right beside him on stage in preparation for a live report; he told her she was trying to upstage him and handed her his microphone. Last Monday, Sandra was given a lashing by not being given an answer when she asked the star what he thought of the media. Well, Sandra should not have asked that question at all; she knew she would not get an answer.

Well, the media is not 100 percent perfect. Nor is it 100 percent wrong. Yes, the GMA-7 reporter may have been bad for reporting that the actor had been hit in the head by an object while atop his campaign truck during a campaign in Cavite April 30. The report irritated the star. It may have been wrong – perhaps the reporter was imagining an object hitting Poe’s head. Because Poe’s "personal" campaign manager, Sen. Vicente Sotto, said he viewed the video but did not see Poe being hit by an object. STAR reporter Paolo wrote that Sotto told the reporters, "You’re fond of making up stories and this is embarrassing because there are so many people."

At this point, Poe cut off Sotto and tried to identify the unidentified flying object (UFO). He said that actor Eddie Garcia, who was with him in the truck, noticed mango sap stuck in Poe’s hair and was trying to remove it with tissue paper. Poe said, "He was trying to remove the sap from my hair with tissue paper." Then he added later, "Our interviews are put to waste if all you put out are falsehoods."

Poe was apparently peeved by the report that the Iglesia ni Cristo, a formidable voting bloc, had made a declaration to go for Gloria. When reporters last Monday asked him if he was going to appeal to the INC hierarchy to change its decision, Poe gave no answer. That’s not surprising; he can’t think of cute things to say that would endear him to readers or listeners. One thing he lacks is a good sense of humor.

Stories of Poe’s impatience with media people abound. That he would turn out to be an unwilling interviewee came as a surprise to many observers who thought that the star, the king of them all who raked in P10-million for every movie he directed and acted in, would charm the media. And charming the media is a must for presidential candidates. But he has not charmed media – except probably movie reporters who want him to be king and president at the same time.

What will happen if he is elected president? He will choose only the reporters who are kind to him, who will write only what he wants to read. He will castigate the photographer who will take shots of him pushing a spoon into his mouth. He will have a "nasty" reporter barred from entering Malacañang. He will want his photos taken only "from the right angle. Here, here’s my best angle." He will demand that his friends withdraw their advertising contracts with a newspaper that is critical of his behavior.

For all the faults of media, they are needed to project a candidate’s positive image. A report on a candidate or his wife giving somebody a punch in the arm, stomach, or what have you, creates a bad impression on the impressionable reader. If he is like this now, what will he be when he is sitting on the throne?

It’s just a few days before Election Day, and I don’t know how da king can salvage his relationship with media. If you will recall, US President Richard Nixon made a statement after his fall from grace, that it was the media that did him in. Let it not be said that it is media that will cause Poe not to win in the polls.

Last week, I wrote in my column that a high-level political observer said the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches head Bishop Ephraim Tendero (I even mispelled his first name) had made a declaration for Gloria. In my next column, I printed the bishop’s txted message from Hong Kong saying that he is not endorsing any political candidate as his organization is non-partisan, and that he is involved in Namfrel’s voter’s education program.

The other day, a reader, after reading my column, e-mailed me, saying 1) I was a "political prostitute," 2) I did not even apologize to Bishop Tendero, and that 2) he hoped makarma ako.

Well, yesterday, the bishop txted me again. He said, "Coming from HK, it was great to read aboard Cathay your column where u printed my txt to u about non-partisan position of the PCEC. Tnk u. God bless you. Efraim Tendero."

The bishop did not wish me bad karma.

E-mail: [email protected]