And the winner is… Mother Lily!

Monday morning, May 13, ordinary citizen Grace Poe woke up early and fell in line at the Sta. Lucia Elementary School in San Juan City to cast her vote.

Tuesday morning, she woke up confirmed as topnotcher in the senatorial race by partial unofficial results in the mid-term elections, surprising herself more than anybody else including her mom, Susan Roces (The First Lady we never had), and dedicating her sure victory to her late dad, Da King FPJ (said to be “The best president we never had”), a victory that vindicated FPJ who was widely believed to have been robbed of the presidency in broad daylight during the 2004 elections.

“How I wish you will be President of the Philippines,” was the text message Regal Matriarch Mother Lily Monteverde sent to Grace before Mother Lily went under the knife (first stage lung cancer).

Hmmmm, too early to tell but it’s not a remote possibility for Grace to run maybe not for president (too premature) but, why not, for vice president in the 2016 presidential election.

Mother Lily was among the first to text Grace a congratulatory message, saying, “Congrats my dear Grace. The partial results say you are No. 1. Prayers can move mountains. I will say this again and again — I want you to be President of the Republic of the Philippines. How I wish I will be alive to see you in Malacañang. I love you, Grace. Tears of joy!”

Actually, even if she didn’t run, Mother Lily has turned out to be a big winner because the 13 candidates that she has openly endorsed not on billboards and in the sorties but via movie press conferences are faring well in the partial unofficial canvassing (at random) — Grace Poe, Loren Legarda, Allan Peter Cayetano, Nancy Binay, Bam Aquino, Chiz Escudero, Sonny Angara, Koko Pimentel, Cynthia Villar and Antonio Trillanes in the Top 12; and Dick Gordon and Gringo Honasan in the next five slots, with only Risa Hontiveros tailing far behind.

Get your own

The 2013 elections again validated Mother Lily’s image as an effective endorser and negating the belief that some stars’ popularity could win votes for those whose hands they are raising (for, uhm, how much?). With this thought, I wonder how Vice Ganda feels now that Nancy Binay, whom he has been belittling on his ABS-CBN shows, appears assured of election? Does that mean that Vice has low credibility? Oh well, maybe he should run in an election and see how for himself.

Here’s the (partial) list of winners (showbiz and showbiz-connected):

 Senators: Grace Poe, Loren Legarda and JV Ejercito

 Congressmen: Alfred Vargas (Quezon City, fifth district), Lucy Torres (Ormoc City), Dan Fernandez (Laguna) and Lani Mercado (Cavite)

 Governor: Vilma Santos (Batangas) and E.R. Ejercito (Laguna)

 Vice Governor: Daniel Fernando (Bulacan) and Jolo Revilla (Cavite)

 Mayors: Joseph “Erap” Estrada (Manila), Alfred Romualdez (Tacloban City), Strike Revilla (Bacoor, Cavite), Junjun Ynares (Antipolo City) and Herbert Bautista (Quezon City)

 Vice Mayor: Isko Moreno (Manila) and Joy Belmonte (Quezon City)

 Board Member: Angelika Jones (Laguna)

 Councilors: Cristina “Kring-Kring” Gonzalez-Romualdez (Tacloban City); Roderick Paulate, Dingdong Avanzado and Gian Sotto (Quezon City); Alma Moreno (Parañaque City)

(E-mail reactions at entphilstar@yahoo.com. You may also send your questions to askrickylo@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)