MANILA, 11 December 2003 — Leaders of a new coalition of opposition parties yesterday reaffirmed their decision to push for political newcomer Fernando Poe Jr. as their standard-bearer in the May election.
But the immensely popular action movie star also known as FPJ or “Da King” has not accepted the nomination and he was a no-show again at a proclamation meeting at a hotel in the financial district of Makati, preferring instead to speak by phone patch.
Even that phone conversation had to be initiated by Sen. Vicente Sotto III, himself an actor and comedian, who is acting as Poe’s spokesman.
Speaking in Filipino, Poe told his supporters from the Coalition of United Filipinos: “As soon as possible, I will inform you what my response is.”
“You just don’t know how I feel today, you just don’t know,” he added, indicating that he was having difficulty plunging into something he had long been trying to avoid: politics.
The 64-year-old actor is widely loved among Filipinos from various walks of life, especially the poor, the cultural minorities and Muslims whom he had fought for in his movies.
What worries many is that he is not even known to have delivered a speech. The statements he have made so far since he announced his plan to stand for the presidency last month were shorter than his rapid punches in his movies.
Since his announcement last month, he had come under a barrage of insults and attacks from groups and individuals, mostly saying he is not cut out for public office.
What’s more, the value of the peso fell to a record level and stock prices also declined on the day he made the announcement.
Political analysts and business leaders have warned that Poe’s running for the presidency, a butt of jokes among Filipinos, was no longer funny because he could win hands down and cause a disaster on the already weak Philippine economy.
In a latest voter survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations, Poe came out on top, beating President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, along with former Education Secretary Raul Roco and two senators.
What further worries many is that Poe may be running for the sake of his best friend, disgraced ex-President Joseph Estrada, also a film star who was ousted for corruption in massive protests in 2001 and is now detained on charges of massive graft.
Poe’s dilly-dallying yesterday was warmly welcomed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who wants to be the standard-bearer of the opposition, but who does not have the support of the coalition’s leaders.
“The gentleman that he is, I suppose he is waiting for us to talk before he accepts anything if he does accept it,” Lacson said in the Senate.
Lacson also said he believed Poe may have “held back” accepting the nomination because in their meeting the actor had told him he would not agree to a rigged selection process.
“I was not surprised that he did not accept it, because probably he saw that the selection process was not a fair one,” Lacson told reporters.
Lacson had complained that he had been shut out of the nomination process by Sen. Edgardo Angara, chair of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) — the party to which he belongs.
The LDP is a major partner of the new coalition. The other members of the coalition are the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino of Estrada and PDP-Laban of Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. The coalition leaders have said they prefer Poe as their candidate because he could easily win over Arroyo or Roco.
Some analysts expected Lacson to withdraw, but his spokesman, Lito Banayo, said he was determined to run.
Former opposition Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, chairman of the coalition selection committee, described Poe as a sincere and patriotic person with “well-known honesty, integrity and fairness.”
Explaining Poe’s embarrassing no-show, Sotto said yesterday’s affair was just a “nomination-proclamation” and “national executive committee meeting” of the coalition, which did not require Poe’s presence.
When asked why Poe did not accept the nomination right away, Sotto said this was just Poe’s style. “He’s not a traditional politician, so he would not do it the traditional politician way which is to accept the nomination right away and be present at the occasion,” he said.
Sotto said he was confident Poe would “acknowledge and accept” the nomination. “Let’s just wait until he says it himself.”
About Poe’s statement Tuesday that he was willing to yield to Lacson to unite the opposition, Sotto said the actor was just being his “usual humble self.”
Sotto expressed confidence that Poe would not back out of the presidential race.
Jinggoy Estrada said he was “101-percent” sure that Poe would accept the nomination and would do so “very soon.”
Horacio Morales, a member of Estrada’s Cabinet, said Poe did not accept right away the nomination because he was just preparing what to say. ( (Aditional input from Agencies)
