Star-Studded Politics

Even if they don't always give stellar performances, movie stars shine in the theater of Philippine politics.

by Luz Rimban


BEFORE the 1960s, the only actor to have conquered national politics was popular matinee idol Rogelio de la Rosa, who won a seat in the Senate in 1957. Four years later, he ran for president as an independent candidate against reelectionist President Carlos P. Garcia of the Nacionalista Party and top-notch lawyer and congressman Diosdado Macapagal of the Liberal Party.

De la Rosa withdrew from the presidential race a few days before the election, ostensibly because his campaign had run out of funds. Personal ties were also likely to have prevailed: De la Rosa gave up his own ambitions to make way for Macapagal, his brother-in-law and boyhood friend from Lubao, Pampanga.

Rogelio de la Rosa was the kind of leading man packaged as dashing, debonair and decent. Keeping up his showbiz image, he did what he probably thought was the proper thing to do: turn his back on a fight he knew he wasn't going to win.

These days, it would be unthinkable for an actor to come that close to the presidency and walk away from it. Then again, showbiz and politics have changed some since the 1950s.

By the latter years of that decade, the movie studios were replacing the Rogelio de la Rosa-types with the rough and gruff type of bidas embodied by the likes of Joseph Estrada. This new breed of lead stars was packaged as unschooled underdogs who never backed away from battles. In the world spun on the silver screen, these actors would get their fair share of beatings but end up victorious against even the most powerful enemies.

These were the kind of celebrities the growing number of masa identified with at a time of social upheaval and rapid change. Toward the end of the turbulent 1960s, Estrada would himself venture into politics, running for mayor of San Juan town, which he would rule for 16 years.

In 1987, exactly 30 years later, Estrada would reprise de la Rosa's entry into the Senate. Although martial law had by then irreversibly changed Philippine society and politics, Filipinos expected the Senate to remain what it was before 1972: an arena where de la Rosa would be at home but where Estrada would be way out of his league. Yet most Filipinos also had the nagging feeling that Estrada the underdog would survive, just like he always did in his movies.

Everyone now knows how Estrada's political story ended. But even after he fell, it was he, and not de la Rosa, who would serve as a model for succeeding generations of celluloid world-celebrities aspiring to break into the world of politics.

With the exception of Ramon Revilla, most of the current crop of showbiz personalities entered politics through local government. It is here where they build up a base of mass support, learn the ropes of governance, or exploit their positions for media mileage.

A seat in local politics — the path Estrada opened — remains the route of choice, as seen by the number of actors and actresses who ran for councilor, vice-mayor, mayor, or for seats in provincial government in the last two elections. A limited geographical area and number of voters, as well as highly personalized politics make the local arena the easiest entry point for showbiz celebrities hoping to make the shift to the real world.

There was another factor in the Estrada formula that helped others win: their being action stars, the ultimate screen heroes. For all his flaws, Estrada will always be the goon-punching Asiong Salonga or Kumander Alibasbas to the Filipino movie-going and voting public, in the same way that Revilla will always be remembered as the hero wielding anting-anting (amulets) against the forces of evil. In a male-dominated society where the macho always wants to have the last word (or punch), Estrada and his kind inspired generations of Filipino toughies ready to pick a fight or even pull a trigger at the flimsiest excuse.

The worst aspects of Philippine politics rubbed off on Estrada, too. He established his own dynasty in San Juan, something that Ramon Revilla hopes to replicate in his home province Cavite, and Lito Lapid, in Pampanga.

To be sure, not all show biz personalities succeed at politics. There are many more who sought but didn't find roles in the political theater, for various reasons. And then there is an area off-limits to actors — the House of Representatives, which remains the bastion of clan and patronage politics, where seats are mostly inherited from family members or won by doling out huge amounts of campaign funds.

Having a household name, however, remains a movie or TV personality's most enviable asset, one that can win a place in national politics as Estrada has demonstrated or one that can fight political machinery and money in places like Kalookan or Cavite where strongmen have found their match in movie stars.

It is difficult to build an unblemished reputation in politics these days, when many others compete for the limelight and where the unrelenting nose of modern-day media could sniff out scandal and strike down those with the smallest secrets to hide. But Pinoys seem to be more forgiving and tolerant of showbiz personalities with their scandal-ridden lives.

Years ago, political parties simply rode on these stars' names by hiring them to entertain voters in the mitings de avance or political rallies of election campaigns. Today politicians either marry into showbiz names to boost their chances or political parties attempt to "own" these names by recruiting stars into the fold, the better to sprinkle party-mates with the pixie dust of fame.

ROGELIO DE LA ROSA
Government positions held: Senator and Diplomat
Previous employment: Actor

Rogelio de la Rosa was the first actor to rise to national prominence as a politician. Although three decades separated him and his successor Joseph Estrada, it was de la Rosa who first proved that actors could make the crossing from film, theater, and later television, to the Senate, a chamber then thought to be the exclusive domain of the erudite.

De la Rosa came from a breed of movie stars the likes of which the country no longer sees, in the same manner that the pre-martial law Senate that welcomed him is a far cry from what it is today. In his time, senators were eloquent orators, the perfect company for de la Rosa, who is said to have been a champion debater and orator in his college years.

De la Rosa was elected to the Senate in 1957 and served until 1965. He ran for president in 1961, but withdrew shortly before election day, stacking the odds in favor of his brother-in-law, Diosdado Macapagal, whose first wife Purita was de la Rosa's sister.

His early Senate record shows that he filed bills relating to fisheries and agriculture, such as the nationalization of the rice and corn mills and the gradual nationalization of the rice and corn industry. De la Rosa co-authored the bill creating the Board of Censors for Motion Pictures, the precursor of today's MRTCB (Movie and Television Review and Classification Board).

After his stint at the Senate, de la Rosa shifted to the foreign service where he became dean of the diplomatic corps. He was appointed ambassador to Cambodia, the Netherlands, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. He tried returning to Congress by running for a seat in the Batasang Pambansa in 1984 but lost. He died in 1987.

JOSEPH ESTRADA
Government positions held: Mayor, Senator, Vice President, President
Previous employment: Action Star

Joseph Estrada remains the best argument against electing actors to public office, or at least letting them walk the corridors of absolute power.

He entered politics at the height of his career in the movies, where he was packaged as a man for the masses who, in the end, always managed to beat his oppressors. Estrada capped his nearly 30-year political career - as mayor, senator, and vice president - with 30 months of one of the most decadent presidencies the country has ever seen.

By the time he reached Malacañang, he had perfected the political art of illusion: he managed to make people believe, for two and a half years, that he was fulfilling the duties of the presidency when in fact he was attending only to the perks that went with it.

Filipinos will probably never know the actual extent to which Estrada and his cronies damaged the economy, but it is believed that what is now publicly known barely scratches the surface - filching tobacco excise taxes and social security funds, taking bribes from illegal gambling operations, getting commissions from businessmen-friends doing deals with government, living a lavish lifestyle, and flaunting his many mistresses.

These, however, were enough for Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings against Estrada, the only president so far to have undergone that experience. Hints of Estrada's complicity in smuggling and illegal drugs surfaced during the impeachment trial, but his allies in the Senate prevented impeachment lawyers from any further pursuit of those charges.

Estrada, however, was thrown out of office and has been detained in a government hospital suite for 19 months now as he faces charges of plunder. Already, the Department of Justice has presented more than 40 witnesses to testify against the former actor, with 25 more to go till prosecutors rest their case.

Despite his political misfortune, Estrada's name and legacy live on. He managed to establish his own dynasty in his hometown San Juan, where a son, Jose Victor (JV) is the incumbent mayor. JV inherited the post from his half-brother, Jinggoy, who himself followed in their father's footsteps as action star-turned-politician-turned-detainee.

VICENTE SOTTO III
Government positions held: Vice Mayor, Senator
Previous employment: Comedian, songwriter, recording company executive

By the time the 1992 elections were held, the post-Marcos mass media had flourished, Joseph Estrada had logged five years as senator, and the public was getting used to the idea of showbiz personalities running for public office. That year, two were elected to the Senate: comedian Tito Sotto and action star Ramon Revilla.

Sotto's four-year stint as vice mayor of Quezon City became the springboard for his senatorial ambitions. Even then, he had packaged himself as a crusader against illegal drugs and campaigner for youth welfare.

Sotto topped the 1992 race for the Senate, where he brought with him his causes, especially the one on illegal drugs. But as he set his sights on higher political ground, Sotto was cut down by a scandal from which he has never quite recovered.

In 1997, while he was chairman of the Senate committee on illegal drugs, Sotto and his aide were accused of harboring links with the drug lord Alfredo Tiongco, who is alleged to have financed the senator's 1992 campaign. Sotto denied any ties, although he did admit seeking police protection for Tiongco who, the senator said, approached him after allegedly receiving death threats.

Before the Tiongco fiasco, Sotto's name was being floated as a possible presidential candidate who could be fielded against Joseph Estrada in the 1998 elections, or at the very least, as a contender for the vice presidency. The drug scandal scuttled his plans for higher office. In his next run for the Senate in 1998, he fell to number five spot.

Sotto remained one of Estrada's closest allies in the Senate and stood by the fallen president through his last days.


RAMON REVILLA
Government positions held: Customs Officer, Senator
Previous employment: Action Star

Ramon Revilla could have joined Joseph Estrada in the 1987 Senate had he used his screen name and not his real name, Jose Bautista. Because he failed to have his movie name accredited, the Commission on Elections threw out the votes meant for Ramon Revilla. This experience taught aspiring showbiz politicians that come election day, voters will write down the name they know and remember, bogus though it may be.

Revilla gained fame for playing do-gooders whose amulets gave them a cloak of invincibility. Unlike the others, he did not start his political career in local government, although he held the position of senior intelligence officer of the Bureau of Customs from 1965 to 1972.

Little is known of how he fared as Customs intelligence officer but a later scandal betrayed hints of how he must have performed. In his early days at the Senate, Revilla was accused of skipping taxes and customs duties for the importation of gamecocks. Revilla is a known cockfighting aficionado and has been running a cockfighting arena in his hometown of Imus, Cavite.

Apart from his involvement in a few scandals, such as the recent debacle over his failure to return an official Pajero he borrowed eight years ago from the Department of Public Works and Highways, and his legislative support for the movie industry, Revilla the senator is known as nothing more than a silent benchwarmer. Although he had little to show for his first six years in office, Revilla, like Sotto, was elected for a second six-year Senate term in 1998.

Revilla took the cue from Estrada and tried to build his own dynasty in Cavite, with help from the ruling party Lakas. In 1995, the party fielded the senator's actor-son Ramon Jr., otherwise known as Bong, to be vice governor to former National Bureau of Investigation Chief Epimaco Velasco who ran for governor. The tandem beat longtime Cavite strongman Governor Juanito Remulla.

In 1998, Bong Revilla ran for the top provincial post and won, but his fortunes changed three years later when he failed to get reelected. His wife, actress Lani Mercado, also lost her bid to become mayor of Bacoor town. His brother Edwin, a.k.a. Strike, however, is now member of the provincial board. A few months ago, Bong Revilla himself was appointed head of the Videogram Regulatory Board where he carries out a real-life role hunting down video pirates.

LITO LAPID
Government positions held: Vice Governor, Governor
Previous employment: Action Star

Lito Lapid and Rey Malonzo belong to a younger generation of action stars who probably idolized Joseph Estrada. What the two actors also have in common is that they pursued their political careers under parties opposing that of Estrada's, eventually earning them the ire of the senior ex-star. Lapid and Malonzo both played antiheroes to the Estrada presidency, much like the villains Estrada used to conquer in his movies.

Lapid first entered politics as vice governor of Pampanga in 1992. He moved up to governor in 1995, a post to which he was re-elected twice. In the 1998 presidential elections, he was blamed for Estrada's resounding defeat in the province, something that Lapid eventually paid for.

Under the Estrada presidency, the Ombudsman filed three graft charges against Lapid: the illegal collection of taxes from lahar quarrying, the alleged illegal purchase of real estate in San Fernando town, and Lapid's alleged failure to account for over P2 million in cash advances. In November 1999, the Ombudsman meted Lapid a one-year suspension for the lahar quarrying case. Lapid took the case to the appellate court, but his appeal was thrown out.

Lapid endeared himself to Estrada's successor, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo — who comes from the same province. The governor, after all, had appeared in two movies with Arroyo's son Juan Miguel (Mikey) and taken him in as vice-gubernatorial candidate in the 2001 local elections. During the Edsa 3 uprising of May 2001, Arroyo allowed Lapid to exact sweet revenge on Estrada by giving him the authority to post bail for, and take custody of, arrested Estrada loyalists.

Lapid hopes to build his own dynasty in Pampanga. He is grooming his son Mark to be an action star-turned-politician like him. The elder Lapid even directed Mark in one action movie. In 2001, Mark Lapid won a seat as barangay captain in their hometown of Porac and went on to head the influential provincial association of barangay captains. Lapid the governor hopes this will be his son's stepping stone for higher political office in Pampanga.

REY MALONZO
Government positions held: Mayor
Previous employment: Action Star

Unlike other political actors who belonged to the elite of show business, Rey Malonzo has no acting award to boast of, although he made a name appearing in a slew of mostly forgettable martial arts movies playing essentially the same types of roles that made Joseph Estrada famous.

In 1995, Malonzo ran for mayor of Kalookan, defeating Macario 'Boy'Asistio, a member of the moneyed and well-entrenched political family that has ruled the city for decades. The Asistios never forgave him for that. In 1996, barangay captains loyal to the Asistios filed a recall petition against Malonzo and demanded new elections, saying the mayor had lost the trust and confidence of his constituents for allegedly misusing funds meant for the city's teachers. A recall election was held and Malonzo won, allowing him to continue ruling Kalookan City.

But Malonzo's woes only worsened after he was reelected in the 1998 polls, the same elections that brought Estrada, a close friend of the Asistios, to Malacañang. In March 1999, the Office of the President ordered the suspension of Malonzo and several other Kalookan City officials for graft, for realigning P39 million of the city budget. Malonzo was suspended for 20 days.

In 2001, Malonzo won a third term, this time against former congressman Luis 'Baby' Asistio, whose family continued to make things difficult for the mayor. Luis Asistio filed a protest against Malonzo for declaring himself winner even before the Commission on Elections had issued its proclamation. Because of the case, Malonzo had to wait four months before assuming his seat.

Malonzo continues to generate controversy. Earlier this year, he wanted the historic Bonifacio Monument in Balintawak transferred to the city of Manila to decongest his side of the metropolis. This earned him the ire of historians and politicians. More recently, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigated past and present Kalookan city officials, Malonzo included, for selling city property to the Gotesco family at a price disadvantageous to government.

In a recent interview, Malonzo was quoted as saying he was planning to run for the Senate in 2004.

JOEY MARQUEZ
Government positions held: Mayor
Previous employment: Pro basketball player, Comedian

Joey Marquez had a short-lived career as a professional basketball player. He shifted to show business where doors were opened for him, being the son of movie director Artemio Marquez and brother of beauty queen-actress Melanie Marquez.

Marquez started out carving a niche for himself as an action star-comedian appearing in movies, although he would later stick to just making people laugh, on television. Marquez entered politics around the same time as Lito Lapid, running first for vice mayor of the predominantly middle class town of Parañaque — and winning. He became mayor in 1995.

One of the earliest controversies involving Marquez the mayor was the holding of the Michael Jackson concert in Parañaque. Sometime in 1997, the Ombudsman decided to file charges against Marquez for allowing — through a hastily approved town council resolution — the concert organizers to pay amusement taxes of only two percent of gross receipts, when internal revenue rules mandated 30 percent.

A few years later, the Commission on Audit recommended the filing of graft charges against Marquez and other city officials before the Ombudsman, this time for malversation of city funds amounting to more than P600 million.

Marquez gained notoriety earlier this year for carrying on an affair with former presidential daughter and TV personality Kris Aquino even before his marriage to actress Alma Moreno was annulled. He denied allegations he intended to use the affair for a purported senatorial candidacy in 2004.

HERBERT BAUTISTA
Government positions held: Vice-mayor
Previous employment: Comedian

Just in his 30s, Herbert Bautista is already a showbiz veteran, having first appeared in movies and television as a child and taking on comedy roles in his older years. He often acted as sidekick to leading men, whether dramatic actors, comedians, or action stars.

Bautista has been playing the role of junior star or supporting actor even in his political career. His route into politics was first through the Kabataang Barangay, which he presided for six years. He then won a seat in the Quezon City Council and then became vice mayor, the position once held by fellow comedian Tito Sotto.

In 1998, Bautista aligned himself with the Lapian ng Masang Pilipino or LAMP, the coalition formed to support Joseph Estrada's candidacy for president. He got LAMP's blessings to run for mayor but was unable to defeat third-termer and seasoned politician Ismael Mathay for the post. While he was president, Estrada named Bautista National Youth Commissioner.

Bautista continued to aspire for higher office. At one point, he was said to be contemplating running for the congressional seat in Quezon City once occupied by another youth leader, Mike Defensor.

In the 2001 elections, however, Bautista again had to step aside to allow action star Rudy Fernandez, another Estrada supporter, to fulfill his political ambitions. Bautista became running mate and vice-mayoralty bet to Fernandez, who ran for mayor. Bautista won even if Fernandez didn't and continues to play sidekick to former House Speaker and present Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte.

VILMA SANTOS
Government positions held: Mayor
Previous employment: Dramatic Actress

The two most prominent female show biz celebrities-turned politicians -

Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos and Camarines Sur Vice Governor Imelda Papin - manage to avoid the limelight. Both quietly hold local positions in turfs far from Metro Manila and the prying eyes of the Manila-based press and are believed not to be interested in publicity en route to national positions.

The public knows all too well that Vilma Santos entered politics because of her husband, Ralph Recto, grandson of the late nationalist Senator Claro M. Recto. Santos ran for and won the mayoralty in the Rectos' hometown in 1998, the same year her husband won a congressional seat in Batangas province.

Being one of the country's A-list actresses assured her of media attention. It also kept the public constantly reminded of her husband, who was then hatching plans to run for the Senate. During the 2001 senatorial race, Santos campaigned vigorously for Recto as did fellow actress Sharon Cuneta for her husband Francis Pangilinan.

But while Pangilinan landed in the upper rungs of the winners' ladder, Recto barely made it. Pangilinan could claim to being a lawyer; in comparison, Recto had no expertise nor experience in a particular field to boast of, and the increasingly youthful voting population had all but forgotten the name of his illustrious forebear. Although the Recto name still carries some cache and recall, Ralph Recto's more bankable asset was a name not his own: Vilma Santos.

Santos herself was thrust into politics because of her affinity with the Rectos and has cultivated the image of being a politician interested in good governance. Right after winning the 1998 elections, Santos embarked on a crash course on public administration at the University of the Philippines. She has adopted a variety of causes ranging from agriculture to the environment, although she had, at one point, gotten much flak for spending only half her time in Batangas and neglecting her official duties to be with her family in Manila.

Santos has fared much better in politics than the other star of her generation, Nora Aunor, who ran for governor of Camarines Sur in 2001. Not even Aunor's name nor her belated denunciation of ex-lover Joseph Estrada during the Edsa 2 gatherings could charm the voting public in Camarines Sur.

IMELDA PAPIN
Government positions held: Vice Governor
Previous employment: Singer

Singer Imelda Papin did better than the bigger singer and superstar Nora Aunor in Camarines Sur.

Papin is a former "Jukebox Queen" who became famous in the 1970s and 80s for singing teary Tagalog love songs. She openly admits that she was named after former First Lady Imelda Marcos, with whom she has become good friends. The two even recorded an album together, a limited edition cassette that had the title, "Imelda Papin featuring Imelda Romualdez Marcos, " which included the older Imelda's signature songs "Dahil Sa Iyo" and "Feelings."

When Papin ran for vice governor in 1998, however, her name was no longer a byword. But she still commanded a following, at least among the masa in the Bicol region, and she won. Longtime politician Luis Villafuerte of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), meanwhile, got the top provincial post. Papin soon learned that being a member of the rival political party Lakas-NUCD was an obstacle, at least in her getting things done. She realized that funds for her projects were being blocked simply because she did not belong to the province's ruling party.

By the time she sought reelection three years later, Papin had wizened up to politics. Instead of fighting the provincial capitol, she joined it. Papin enlisted in the LDP and became Villafuerte's running mate in the 2001 elections. It was the Villafuerte-Papin team that defeated Nora Aunor and her running mate Emmanuel Llaguno.



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