From: Gonzales, Jorge
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2003 6:59 PM
Subject: Sing Dahil sa iyo
An Open Letter to the Filipino People
Last year, Fernando Poe Jr. said he wasn’t going to run
for president; last December, President Gloria Arroyo said she wasn’t
going to run for president. I don’t know how they make their
decisions, but it sure sounds like they do it on a whim because today
both of them are talking about their “sacrifices” - how hard the next
six years are going to be for their families, how they have to give up
their privacy, how they have to deal with the criticism and mud
slinging and how much they love this country.Oh please. You’re all
beginning to sound like Kris Aquino.
Watching the news on Wednesday when FPJ announced his
intention to run, I panicked when I saw Susan Roces looking alarmingly
like Imelda as she cried on TV and said that her husband was running
because he just wanted to help the people, so why is everybody so mean
to him? I kept thinking, oh my God, is she going to break into Dahil sa Iyo?
That scared the hell out of me. That and the clip where
FPJ mumbled through his one-on-one interview with ABS-CBN wearing
shades. Did he perhaps misplace a wristband? Or when he was asked
about his economic policies and he said…what did he say? Nothing,
that’s what. You’d think if you were going to announce your
presidential ambitions you would have at least prepared something -
anything - on how you were going to lead the country aside from the
overused line about being the savior the masses need.
Now showbiz people are complaining of the criticism FPJ is
receiving. Their loyalty is fascinating. I can watch their display on
TV all day and be alternately amazed and confused about whether part of
their brain goes on auto pilot when they’re talking about FPJ. It’s the
same kind of loyalty for Erap, which led Senator Tessie Oreta to do
that little jig in the Senate during the impeachment proceedings. Look
where it got Erap.
You don’t know whether their loyalty to FPJ comes from
personally knowing he has the brains to lead the country or simply
because they belong to the same profession. There must be something
about show business that creates this strong bond, this persecution
complex that leads them to think that because they are actors people
think they’re stupid. In this country that has elected showbiz people
and made them mayors, councilors, governors and senators barangay
captains, and hell, even president - why do they still complain of a
bias against their profession? You don’t hear electricians saying, “Oh
they’ll never elect us into office!” And you certainly don’t hear
economists fanatically defending GMA just because she is one. We all know
there are many accomplished actors whose achievements go beyond their
profession. You see their every move in newspapers every day, for God’s sake.
The biggest bias against FPJ is not that he is an actor,
but that he may lack the skills, temperament, and attitude to become a
leader. People say he has such a kind heart, unquestionable sincerity
and that he has helped a lot of people through the years - shouldn’t
this be enough? No, it’s not. I need my president - whoever he or she
is - to be better than the average Juan. I want him to know history
and poetry as well as economics, to be able to quote Shakespeare and
argue with Allan Greenspan, to stand shoulder to shoulder with the
world’s most powerful leaders, to make me proud - not to make me laugh
- when I see him on TV.
I want to love my president and I want to respect him. I
want a president who doesn’t have to surround himself with economists
to know how to run the country. I want him to know these things on his
own and listen to advice but not be influenced by people who have a
different agenda. I want to talk about my president to foreigners
without being embarrassed, without shaking my head and saying, “Well,
Filipinos aren’t the most mature electorate in the universe.” I don’t
want to hear that Filipino doct
ors are now studying to become nurses
just to apply for jobs abroad or college students choosing their
courses based on what the most popular jobs are in other countries.
Sincerity is a beautiful thing, but it’s not the only thing that makes
a president great. In 1998, when Erap was elected, I was hoping he
would succeed, that since he was wildly popular and beloved, he was
going to do good. But look what he did. He surrounded himself with
advisers and friends, he drank and he womanized - oh how he womanized
and how they built their mansions. Does anybody remember any of this?
It was as if he was chipping away at the stature of the presidency and
the country piece by piece. He said the most godawful embarrassing
things at the most unfortunate moments. The things that saw print, they
weren’t even close to what editors wouldn’t print because they were
just so stupid and depressing. He didn’t inspire the poor to do better
- he just fueled their anger and pointed it to the wrong direction.
You don’t have a house? You don’t have a job? Blame the past
presidents, blame the rich, blame the middle class. He never said,
well, why don’t you get off your asses and look for work? He didn’t
encourage people to work harder because he didn’t improve the economy.
He blamed the rich, played to the poor and completely forgot about the
middle class who didn’t cheat on their taxes or steal other people’s
land. Like Erap, FPJ polarizes people. It’s the kind that creates so
much anger and distrust on both sides. This early, the people
surrounding him are far from reassuring. Tito Sotto? After showing his
fantastic grasp of economics, of what drives foreign exchange? Hello?
This is not Eat Bulaga, sir. Nobody is laughing. Somebody should pinch
FPJ and tell him this is not the movies. That he cannot fight off our
Asian neighbors for measly investment with his magic sword. Erap and
now Ang Panday. It’s so depressing I want to cry.
A friend warned me about pissing off FPJ. She said, “Be
careful what you write about him, he may be your next president.”
What’s he gonna do, drop an anvil on my head?