Winners, losers from showbiz in midterm polls
The smoke of the battle has cleared in the midterm elections and some of the winners have been proclaimed.
Young and new faces in the political scene triumphed over the old and tested big names. Giant slayers include Isko Moreno, Vico Sotto and Francis Zamora.
Isko, the former Vice Mayor of Manila, toppled incumbent Mayor Joseph Estrada, ending the former president’s term as chief executive.
Vico Sotto, the son of estranged couple Vic Sotto and Coney Reyes, ended the 27-year-old reign of the Eusebios in Pasig by winning the mayoralty race.
Francis Zamora, whose father Ronnie Zamora was a long-time ally of Erap Estrada, won the mayoralty race of San Juan over Janella Ejercito Estrada, the granddaughter of Erap.
Other celebrities in the winners’ circle are action star Lito Lapid who ran as senator, same with Sen. Grace Poe who is now in her second term,
Rep. Imee Marcos and comebacking politician Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr.
Also victorious are Lipa Representative Vilma Santos-Recto, Rep. Alfred Vargas of the 5th District of Quezon City, Ormoc Mayor Richard Gomez, Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez, Rep. Dan Fernandez of Laguna, and Hero Bautista (Councilor, 4th District of Quezon City) among others.
If there are winners, there are also losers. Former Senator Jinggoy Estrada failed to win a seat, same with his half brother JV Ejercito, the entire Otso Diretso team failed to land in the winner’s circle. Former councilor Roderick Paulate lost in his bid for the vice-mayoralty seat in Quezon City. ER Ejercito also lost in his comeback bid as governor of Laguna. Suffering the same fate were Gary Estrada (who ran for vice mayor of Cainta) and Richard Yap who ran for a congressional seat in Cebu.
The electorate has made its decision. The result may seem like a bitter pill to swallow for some but it is time to move on. Let history be the judge if the result of the midterm elections will move the country forward and redound to something good.
As for the celebrities who failed in their bids, they can go back to their showbiz careers and be active again.
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Raymond Lauchengco was one of the hottest singers during the ‘80s. At the time, Martin Nievera was making hits, Raymond also had his fair share of hits like “So It’s You,” the love theme from the iconic movie “Bagets,” and “Farewell,” which became a favorite graduation song.
As a teenager, he described himself as strange because of his music influences. “I like listening to Broadway. I love the songs of The West Side Story. I love the songs of ‘The West Side Story,’ Rodgers and Hammerstein. I grew up doing musical theaters so my influence was musical theater. And then when I started cutting records, I discovered many pop singers,” he said.
When asked what he missed during the ‘80s, Raymond said, “I miss singing and people are just smiling at you. Kasi now, I’m sorry ha, what you see are cellphones. People are watching you but they’re not watching you. They’re watching from their cellphones. I don’t understand it.”
Incidentally, Raymond joins Gino Padilla, Lou Bonnevie, Jam Morales and Jet Pangan in “Into The ‘80s” concert to be held at The Theater at Solaire, Solaire Resort & Casino on May 18.
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In its efforts to showcase Filipino film production companies on a global platform, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) will be leading the Philippine film delegation as the Philippines has been selected as the Spotlight Country at the prestigious Marché du Film’s Cannes Producers Network featuring a diverse and relevant lineup of film producers from the country from May 15 to 21 in Cannes, France.
Part of this film market is the Cannes Producers Network, an exclusive producers-only event that brings together producers from all over the world to network with international partners and to seize opportunities for international film co-productions.
During its spotlight event for the Philippines on May 21, FDCP will be presenting the following spotlight companies which include the country’s biggest film industry players to more than 300 international partners: APT Entertainment, Inc., Globe Studios, The IdeaFirst Company, Spring Films, and TEN17P. This is with the special participation of ABS-CBN Films, the biggest film production outfit in the Philippines, as the Guest of Honor.
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