As the nation awaits the final results of the midterm elections, attention turns to the many showbiz personalities who joined the political race.
The people have spoken and as we are awaiting for the results of the midterm elections, we look back at the celebrity heartthrobs and film and TV stars who have fallen out of favor who participated in our political exercise.
We all know that the National Artist and Superstar Nora Aunor, before her death, has withdrawn from being the second nominee of the People’s Champ Partylist for health reasons. Same with Wendell Ramos, who withdrew from the Manila coucilor race to focus on family and career.
Now that some partial results are out, we have to check on whether these industry stalwarts made it to the winning circle.
While Tito Sotto and Lito Lapid are in the early winning circle in surveys , re-electionist Bong Revilla and Manny Pacquiao are strong hangers on still. As for the first timers Erwin and Ben Tulfo, they seem to be in the safe spots. How about Willie Revillame, Philip Salvador or Jimmy Bondoc? It seems like we really need to monitor their numbers closely, as they are quite lagging behind.
For the House of Representatives, whatever happened to Zanjoe Marudo, who is the second nominee of Alyansa Laban sa Substance Abuse para sa Bagong Pilipinas Natin or ASAP NA Partylist? We bet a lot of people didn’t know that pageantry and modeling director Jonas Gaffud is the third nominee of ARTE party list, which represents the creative industries. The first nominee is architect Lloyd Lee, husband of beauty queen Shamcey Supsup, who initally ran as the partylist’s representative in the last elections. Shamcey is as an independent candidate for councilor in Pasig.
Actor-turned-politician Jeremy Marquez, son of actor-politician Joey Marquez, is the first nominee of Solo Parents Partylist. Social media personality Deo Balbuena, more popularly known as Diwata and the owner of Diwata Pares, is the fourth nominee of Vendors Partylist.
Pageant veteran and content creator Wilbert Tolentino is the first nominee of Ahon Mahirap Partylist, a lineup that also has filmmaker Noel Escando as nominee.
Bayani Agbayani ran under the TUPAD partylist that has as platform, “alalayan ang mahihirap na mamamayang Pilipino.” We will also closely watch how Chef Florabel Yatco fare as the first nominee of Nanay Partylist.
Still in our list of celebrities in Congress, we shall closely monitor re-electionists Arjo Atayde in the first district of QC, Richard Gomez in the fourth district of Leyte, Lani Mercado and Jolo Revilla in the second and first district of Cavite, respectively.
Meanwhile, incumbent Oriental Mindoro Vice Governor Ejay Falcon ran for second district representative, while actor Marco Gumabao gunned for the congressional seat in Camarines Sur’s fourth district, backed by the Villafuerte clan under the National Unity Party. How they fare in this election will also determine their fate in the entertainment sector.
The Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms said that “Filipino voters have wisened up. Many Filipinos have achieved a certain level of political maturity. They are no longer just looking at the mere popularity of candidates, but are voting for those who can deliver the promise of reforms.” May this hold true in the forthcoming days as we await the final results, which include a list of showbiz stars who presented themselves as candidates in the local polls.
