Susan for president
Susan for president
Updated 11:53pm (Mla time) Dec 19, 2004
By Conrado de Quiros
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the December 20, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
SUSAN Roces gave out two interviews last week that showed a contrast in moods. Both made me wonder what madness persuaded Fernando Poe Jr.'s handlers to take the tack they did during the campaign-keeping him and his wife away from the more serious public forums. I don't know how articulate FPJ is, but Susan Roces is obviously so.
Her interviews during the past week should also dispel the wrongheaded notion that Tagalog is inadequate to express thoughts and feelings. There are no inadequate languages, there are only inadequate speakers. Roces rose to heights of eloquence completely effortlessly during her interviews talking in Tagalog. What is eloquence anyway but speaking from the heart?
In the first interview, Roces was gracious in the extreme.
Yes, she said, she was still going to find joy this Christmas. That is how it has always been with her. She came from a poor family and learned early in life to make the best of what she had. When they were kids, every time someone in her family had a birthday and they didn't have money, they just bought a piece of cake. But they made sure to put a candle on it. Yes, she'll still celebrate Christmas. Her husband won't be there physically, but he'll still be there in spirit. She'll make the best of what she has.
FPJ, she said, never misrepresented himself when he ran for president. He never passed himself off as someone other than what he was. He was a school dropout who rose to the top of his profession through talent and hard work. He was a man with a good heart who had helped others before and wanted to help more. Better someone like that than people who used their heads only to oppress others.
She thought the crowd that tore to shreds the wreath sent by President Macapagal-Arroyo were wrong to do so. But she had no dominion over people's hearts. Her husband himself had been much affected by what happened in the elections. Someone is robbed of his money, he can always make it another day. Someone is robbed of his dreams, he is robbed of his life.
In the second interview, Roces was furious in the extreme. Probably out of tiredness, probably out of seeing all the people who had wronged them during the elections simulating commiseration, she lashed out. Particularly at the one TV station she believed had wronged them the most. She did not mince her words, reducing Karen Davila to tears. The reason people are not watching ABS-CBN news, she told Davila, was not only that it aired late but that it was false. Among others, it falsified the attendance in FPJ's campaign. "Why did you say nobody went to his rallies when you could see for yourself the crowds that pushed their way there?"
Roces said a good deal more, but it is by now widely known. It was shown in several networks that night-among them ABS-CBN-and was the headline of newspapers next day. She ended on a conciliatory note, however, saying if God could forgive, who was she not to?
Well, I myself was wondering how long it would take before she snapped at the sight of all the media that had slammed the door on her husband while he was alive and seeking to become a tenant of Malacañang; but were now pushing and shoving to get ahead of the line while her husband waited to occupy the cold earth. More than the elections, this was a test of epic proportions, and FPJ's widow passed it with flying colors. The colors of grief and anger. Whether contemplative or explosive, she looked eminently presidential.
That is so particularly if we define "presidential" by the one characteristic that should attend it but has been stripped from it these past years: honesty. Honesty is the one thing that has been defiled horrendously in this country, lying becoming a hallmark of presidential ambition, deception becoming the handmaiden of presidential conduct. Honesty is the one thing that has been cheapened violently in this country, pundits applauding demonstrations of unscrupulousness, calling it the height of political savvy, and self-proclaimed "empower-ers" of the people choosing to play the roles of blind court monkeys.
What made Roces look spectacularly presidential was just that: she was honest. A monumental irony for the fact that she is an actor, as was her husband. She and her husband had played many roles in their lives, but as it turned out, they had not forgotten to play themselves. She and her husband had played the role of bidas in their movies, but as it turned out they had never advertised themselves as such in real life. The day before Roces lambasted ABS-CBN, I saw Aladin Bacolodan touring FPJ's house and standing on a pile of relief goods that FPJ had been gathering to give to the typhoon victims. None of the goods carried his name. It was never his habit to do that, Bacolodan said. FPJ preferred to remain nameless when he gave.
These are gracious folk in these ungracious times. These are honest folk in these dishonest times. I don't know that honesty alone makes for a great president, but I do know it is the precondition for being one. Honesty in a president is the only assurance the citizen has he's not getting a raw deal, whether he agrees with her or not. No, it is his only assurance he has a president, and not a non-actor who's just playing the part.
What can I say? Susan for president.
* * *
Our concert for the typhoon victims is tonight at Conspiracy Café in Visayas Avenue. As of this writing, the artists are: Dong Abay, Cynthia Alexander, Johnny Alegre, Noli Aurillo, Joey Ayala, Bayang Barrios, Noel Cabangon, Cooky Chua, Mon David, Susan Fernandez, Gary Granada, Paolo Santos, Pido, Ria Villena, Chikoy Pura, Tots Tolentino. More will jam.
Give to the afflicted. You won't just be richer in spirit, you'll be richer in song.
Updated 11:53pm (Mla time) Dec 19, 2004
By Conrado de Quiros
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the December 20, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
SUSAN Roces gave out two interviews last week that showed a contrast in moods. Both made me wonder what madness persuaded Fernando Poe Jr.'s handlers to take the tack they did during the campaign-keeping him and his wife away from the more serious public forums. I don't know how articulate FPJ is, but Susan Roces is obviously so.
Her interviews during the past week should also dispel the wrongheaded notion that Tagalog is inadequate to express thoughts and feelings. There are no inadequate languages, there are only inadequate speakers. Roces rose to heights of eloquence completely effortlessly during her interviews talking in Tagalog. What is eloquence anyway but speaking from the heart?
In the first interview, Roces was gracious in the extreme.
Yes, she said, she was still going to find joy this Christmas. That is how it has always been with her. She came from a poor family and learned early in life to make the best of what she had. When they were kids, every time someone in her family had a birthday and they didn't have money, they just bought a piece of cake. But they made sure to put a candle on it. Yes, she'll still celebrate Christmas. Her husband won't be there physically, but he'll still be there in spirit. She'll make the best of what she has.
FPJ, she said, never misrepresented himself when he ran for president. He never passed himself off as someone other than what he was. He was a school dropout who rose to the top of his profession through talent and hard work. He was a man with a good heart who had helped others before and wanted to help more. Better someone like that than people who used their heads only to oppress others.
She thought the crowd that tore to shreds the wreath sent by President Macapagal-Arroyo were wrong to do so. But she had no dominion over people's hearts. Her husband himself had been much affected by what happened in the elections. Someone is robbed of his money, he can always make it another day. Someone is robbed of his dreams, he is robbed of his life.
In the second interview, Roces was furious in the extreme. Probably out of tiredness, probably out of seeing all the people who had wronged them during the elections simulating commiseration, she lashed out. Particularly at the one TV station she believed had wronged them the most. She did not mince her words, reducing Karen Davila to tears. The reason people are not watching ABS-CBN news, she told Davila, was not only that it aired late but that it was false. Among others, it falsified the attendance in FPJ's campaign. "Why did you say nobody went to his rallies when you could see for yourself the crowds that pushed their way there?"
Roces said a good deal more, but it is by now widely known. It was shown in several networks that night-among them ABS-CBN-and was the headline of newspapers next day. She ended on a conciliatory note, however, saying if God could forgive, who was she not to?
Well, I myself was wondering how long it would take before she snapped at the sight of all the media that had slammed the door on her husband while he was alive and seeking to become a tenant of Malacañang; but were now pushing and shoving to get ahead of the line while her husband waited to occupy the cold earth. More than the elections, this was a test of epic proportions, and FPJ's widow passed it with flying colors. The colors of grief and anger. Whether contemplative or explosive, she looked eminently presidential.
That is so particularly if we define "presidential" by the one characteristic that should attend it but has been stripped from it these past years: honesty. Honesty is the one thing that has been defiled horrendously in this country, lying becoming a hallmark of presidential ambition, deception becoming the handmaiden of presidential conduct. Honesty is the one thing that has been cheapened violently in this country, pundits applauding demonstrations of unscrupulousness, calling it the height of political savvy, and self-proclaimed "empower-ers" of the people choosing to play the roles of blind court monkeys.
What made Roces look spectacularly presidential was just that: she was honest. A monumental irony for the fact that she is an actor, as was her husband. She and her husband had played many roles in their lives, but as it turned out, they had not forgotten to play themselves. She and her husband had played the role of bidas in their movies, but as it turned out they had never advertised themselves as such in real life. The day before Roces lambasted ABS-CBN, I saw Aladin Bacolodan touring FPJ's house and standing on a pile of relief goods that FPJ had been gathering to give to the typhoon victims. None of the goods carried his name. It was never his habit to do that, Bacolodan said. FPJ preferred to remain nameless when he gave.
These are gracious folk in these ungracious times. These are honest folk in these dishonest times. I don't know that honesty alone makes for a great president, but I do know it is the precondition for being one. Honesty in a president is the only assurance the citizen has he's not getting a raw deal, whether he agrees with her or not. No, it is his only assurance he has a president, and not a non-actor who's just playing the part.
What can I say? Susan for president.
* * *
Our concert for the typhoon victims is tonight at Conspiracy Café in Visayas Avenue. As of this writing, the artists are: Dong Abay, Cynthia Alexander, Johnny Alegre, Noli Aurillo, Joey Ayala, Bayang Barrios, Noel Cabangon, Cooky Chua, Mon David, Susan Fernandez, Gary Granada, Paolo Santos, Pido, Ria Villena, Chikoy Pura, Tots Tolentino. More will jam.
Give to the afflicted. You won't just be richer in spirit, you'll be richer in song.
posted by Dante at 8:00 PM
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