by Jaileen F. Jimeno and Annie Ruth Sabangan
IT IS the lawyer who knows the law, it is the fisherman who knows how to fish, and it is the architect who knows how to design buildings. So why should voters rely on celebrities in choosing whom to pick as their political leaders?
But perhaps “rely” is too strong a word. Still, there’s no sugarcoating the fact that in this country, celebrity endorsements have helped many a politician win. In far too many cases even, celebrities themselves have been voted into public office with little to show beyond their showbiz credentials.
Sidebar
by Jaemark Tordecilla and Annie Ruth Sabangan
THIS HAS become one star-studded election season, but few are under the delusion that artistas have suddenly been seized by profound political or social consciousness.
Longtime observers of the showbiz industry say it’s really mostly about money. “There’s not much principle involved,” says entertainment columnist Isah Red. “Usually, the talent manager handles the deal so the celebrity endorses (a politician) and there’s quid pro quo. But of course, no one will categorically admit that it’s like that.”
For legacy or for House run?
by Karol Anne M. Ilagan
THE PERSISTENTLY unpopular President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo may be proof that sometimes advertising just doesn’t work.
In early April, or just a little more than two months before Arroyo is supposed to step down, yet another Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey had her posting a net satisfactory rating of -53 (satisfactory minus unsatisfactory) — her worst showing yet in her nine years as the country’s chief executive.
APO milked by officials?
by Justine Espina-Letargo and Tita C. Valderama
IT IS now so obscure that many government officials don’t even know what it is, but there was once a time when the APO Production Unit, Inc. seemed destined for great things.
‘APO’ actually stands for ‘Asian Productivity Organization,’ which was the name of the Japan-based group that had helped start it more than three decades ago as an outfit that would serve the information and training needs of Asian countries.
Photo Slideshow
by Tita C. Valderama
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by Tita C. Valderama
THE ELECTION Code is clear: Any printing press owned or controlled by the government is prohibited from being used in any election campaign or partisan political activity.
But some officials of the APO Production Unit, Inc., which is under the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), say the company is “private” and is therefore free to print campaign materials for one of its board members who is among the candidates for local office on May 10, as well as for the son and a brother of two other company officers.
by Karol Anne Ilagan and Malou Mangahas
THE PHILIPPINE PRESS, widely held to be the freest and most rambunctious in Southeast Asia, has no reason to boast and gloat as journalists across the globe observe World Press Freedom Day today.
Aside from the string of unsolved murders of journalists, spotty compliance and outright mockery of the law on the disclosure of statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) by the country’s justices, lawmakers and executive officials continue to hinder the people’s right to know – ironically this year’s theme in commemorating press freedom.
Our latest offering is a series of stories about the gigs, gimmicks and exploits in college of three candidates for president — the Liberal Party’s Benigno C. Aquino III, the Nacionalista Party’s Manuel B. Villar Jr., and the Lakas-Kampi’s Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr.
These stories were written by communication students who are now working with the PCIJ on internship basis. We sent them out to field to discover how these candidates were like when they were students their age.
Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr.
by Maritoni Tiongco, Beatriz Bermundo, Katreena Cosme and Eliza Ferolino
HIS LAW SCHOOL study buddies spew out superlatives when asked for proof that Gilberto Cojuangco Teodoro Jr., candidate for president of the administration Lakas-Kampi party, is true “Galing at Talino.”
Teodoro finished at the top of his class at the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1989. The same year, he passed the bar with a score of 86.185 percent, landing No. 1 among thousands of examinees.
Manuel B. Villar Jr.
by Alexandra Francisco, Jessa Jarilla and Marinnel del Poso
It was the late sixties, and while the rest of the world was into Woodstock and Marxist revolutions, Filipino students were slow to challenge authority. For Manuel Bamba Villar Jr. and his Thursday Club buddies, life was about finishing college, having fun, and catching a good movie now and then.
Much has changed since then. The young man clad in jeans and t-shirt then now wears tailored suits and owns more than a billion pesos in assets. The boy who was called “Bamba” by friends – after his middle name and after a popular song of the sixties, Villar would later don the titles of congressman, Speaker, senator, and then Senate president. The boy whose only aim then was to finish college now seeks the Presidency of the Republic.
