Who’s afraid of movie stars?

A lame excuse why our “political system has gone bankrupt” is the contemptible entry of movie stars into the sanctimonious realm of Philippine politics. It is aspersed that movie stars are ignorant, ­­­­benighted and illiterate because they did not study law, political science or public administration.

It was neither Rogelio de la Rosa nor Nash Aguas who contemplated and wrote the constitutional provision on the qualifications for presidents and senators, as follows: one has to be a natural-born Filipino, aged 35 for senators/40 for presidents, a resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years, a registered voter, able to read and write.

It is safe to posit that some erudite intellectuals and constitutional experts, not movie stars, came up with these requirements.

In this light, to deprive movie stars of exercising a constitutional right smacks of “scoffing condescension, bigotry and illiberalism from those who believe they know better than the people.“ (AJ Anderson)

Give or take a few, a hundred movie stars/people affiliated with the celebrity business have run, won and lost in various elections since Rogelio de la Rosa was elected to the Philippine Senate from 1957 to 1963, a negligible percentage to the lawyers, political scientists, economists, graduates and undergraduates from various universities here and abroad, scions of the elites, the oligarchs, the intellectuals, the holy ones, the burgis and “sosyals.” But this seems not to merit the hawkish attention of some critics. There is an article being shared by friends where the writer mentions in his discourse that “Willie Revillame, a good man; Philip Salvador, a fine actor; Lito Lapid, an excellent actor and Bong Revilla who made politics his family business.” It seems like the author pays good attention to local showbiz.

I wanted to take him to task on what he knows about the essential differences between a good actor and an excellent actor. Must be interesting but that would be for another discussion.

That a movie star or TV host is not prepared, is not competent enough for the gargantuan responsibilities of a senator, that popularity is not tantamount to competence, I hear these loud and clear.

The government of this country (from local to national) – which has been run by lawyers, public administrators, a few movie stars, doctors of all kinds, economists – remains one of the most corrupt in the world, according to the Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International. Our country also remains one of the poorest in the region.

What have these highly educated politicians done?

The writer of the said article talks about senator Manny Pacquiao with some fondness. “His having wealth that he deserves as an eight-category boxing champion does not prepare him for legislative work – perhaps, a mayor or an executive position – but not legislative. For one to be an effective legislator, one has to study Political Science and Constitutional Law.” Then he compares Pacquiao to parliamentarians Escudero, Cayetano, Tolentino. Then he casts his judgement again – “he’s a good person and a good Filipino but he can’t be a good senator.”

To this writer, may I ask – who are the biggest plunderers in this country? Who declared martial law? Who were the political players post-martial law? Who invented and desecrated the EDSA revolution? Why were two chief justices impeached? Why is there so much corruption? Why is our economy floundering? Why is our hunger index so high? Why do 13.6 percent of Filipinos identify themselves as poor?

Movie stars in public service are not responsible for these sordid, pathetic data and statistics.

The same writer argues that “some celebrities such as Tito Sotto and Vilma Santos are having problems with age.” This is ageism. Then he exhorts the Tulfo brothers to fix their problems – and not get into the political fray.

Currently the two Tulfos are topping the most respected national political surveys.

Could it be because people are so tired of matatalino, educated, rich oligarchs who continue to rule this country?

With a few exceptions, the Philippine political landscape still teems with the oligarchic, feudalistic, pseudo-intellectual players marauding the dark alleys of our beloved Philippines. Some of them are “artistas,” but to stereotype artistas as imbeciles is discriminatory. It is bigotry. Some of the most corrupt politicians in the world went to the best schools! The piece explicitly declares that the legislative job is complex and needs a scholastic degree for one to hurdle it. Then why does the law allow anyone who can read and write to be a senator or president? And then there’s the “power of not knowing,” an interesting concept that postulates that knowing starts from not knowing. I could almost hear the voice of the great Miriam Defensor Santiago when, before explaining her vote on the impeachment case of chief justice Renato Corona, she said, “Sino ba ang malinis sa atin? Ang gagaling, ang tatalino nating lahat.” She pleaded with God to give her another life so she could investigate everyone in politics! “Pati ako!” she screamed.

Character is at the heart of politics and public service. Stop this sordid stereotyping.

I have a Master’s degree in communications and a PHD in social development and I have no political ambitions. I am happy in my little corner doing a job I do with glee, integrity and insanity. And when you ask, as if in exasperation, why don’t they invite Boy Abunda to run for governor of Eastern Samar, I figured, why not? The only thing is, I am not interested, not yet anyway!

Here are other points to ponder on:

1. Examine why voters vote for the movie star who knows how to talk to them.

2. A good number of politicians mimic actors – they secretly want to be actors.

3. Examine why the power of celebrity is massive.

4. Enlighten people that if a movie star does not deserve their vote – campaign against him as others will campaign against candidates who are lawyers, doctors, etc. who are a shame to humanity.

5. In the end, if it’s in your belly – if it’s in mine – we both have the right to do what we think is right, including, if you may, the right to run for public office.

6. It is “intellectual,” arrogant condescension on movie stars that makes movie stars win elections. Instead of seriously paying attention to what it is about movie stars that EDUCATED candidates can learn from, the schooled decide to raise their eyebrows, laugh deridingly, look the other way – because the sight is so cringey – and inadvertently opening the political gates to the popular movie stars.

7. It is egregious “pangmamaliit” that is more dangerous to democracy and which i think partly causes political bankruptcy!

8. May we be reminded of the quote of James Carville who said, “It’s about the economy, stupid.” May I respectfully paraphrase this with, “It’s about winning elections, stupid! After winning, serve and govern!”