
MANILA, Philippine (The Adobo Chronicles) – The top two contenders for Philippine president — Senator Grace Poe and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte are both facing disqualification charges before the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) — Poe on the grounds of allegedly not being a natural-born citizen, and Duterte, for being a substitute for a nuisance candidate who had earlier withdrawn his candidacy.
In ancipation of a decision by COMELEC, the camps of both candidates have laid out their respective “Plan B.”
Poe’s camp has asked the senator’s mom, Philippine movie queen Susan Roces, to be the substitute candidate should Poe be disqualified to run for president.
Duterte’s camp (PDP-Laban), on the other hand, is in negotiations with the other Philippine movie queen Amalia Fuentes to be its standard bearer if COMELEC bars Duterte from running.
Before there was the Nora Aunor-Vilma Santos rivalry, there was the Roces-Fuentes feud in Philippine cinema. 2016 could see a revival of that feud.
In the Philippines, it is not uncommon for film actors and actresses to run for political office. As a matter of fact, film star Alma Moreno has been drafted by Vice President Jeojomar Binay (who is running for president) to be part of his senatorial ticket.
It’s more fun in the Philippines. We mean, really.