Liberty Ilagan in defense of FPJ

Curtain-raisers:
• Could it be true that Sen. Noli de Castro might run for President, with Sen. Loren Legarda as running-mate? Guess what party they might run under.

• Happy birthday to Nards Jimenez, past president and CEO of GMA Network, who turned a year wiser last Saturday (Dec. 6).

• Congratulations to my friend, poet Carmelo "Vim" Nadera, Jr. on his selection as one of this year’s TOYM. Married to Dr. Dinah Palmera Pacquing, Vim was winner of the National Book Award from the Manila Critics Circle, Palanca Awards, Carlos Bulosan Award and a CCP grant for playwriting. He’s a professor at UP.

• Members of the UST Medicine Class ’78 are invited to the Silver Jubilee celebration from Dec. 15 to 21. They are requested to call Blas at 731-3101 or Noemi Tanglad-Salazar at 749-9712.

• Maryo de los Reyes’ Magnifico, produced by Violet Sevilla of Violett Films, continues to make waves in international film festivals. According to Ferdinand Lapuz, Funfare’s Toronto-based "international correspondent," Magnifico will compete at the 27th Kinderfilmfest of the Berlin International Film Festival from Feb. 6 to 15 next year. Magnifico will vie for the Crystal Bear Award for Feature Film awarded by the Children and Youth Juries and the Grand Prix Award from an international jury.

• A documentary film on former First Lady Imelda Marcos, simply titled Imelda, is competing for the Best Documentary Award at the Sundance Film Festival next year. The SFF is backed by Robert Redford.

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Funfare isn’t making any comment on the following "in defense of FPJ" piece sent by former Sampaguita actress Liberty Ilagan:

Believing we are wise tempts us to evaluate the shortcoming of others, unaware as we are of how much growth is still required of ourselves.

Quality of leadership is not based on educational attainment. Leaders are born, not made. David was just a shepherd boy and he became king. From Luke 10:21: In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the spirit and said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes, even so Father for it seemed good in your sight.

Throughout history, God’s answer to critical time was to send a babe – Isaac, Moses, Samuel, John the Baptist and Jesus. They were all born as answers to a time of crisis. When Jesus selected His first disciples, he could have enlisted a multitude of bright men but instead he chose Peter, a fisherman, to lead his flock.

Right now, the Philippines is in a time of crisis. Fernando Poe Jr. is a babe. No experience in politics. Just like David, he is not perfect but God loves him because his heart is pure. It was a difficult decision for him to run for President. He is a private person. He does not need the fame and popularity, he does not need the money. He knows the heavy burden that whoever wins will be confronted with. It is only love of country and the Filipino people that made him decide to run.

Genuine leadership is based on character and it originates from the heart. If he could help uplift the quality of life and disrupt the corruption in our society today, then it is worth a try. This is not an easy job. The road to success is devious. One wrong move could spell disaster. He has to be prudent.

Our hopes will be for him to overcome all the obstacles along the way and lead our nation into unity and profound prosperity.

Wisdom is not proven by debates or arguments. Wisdom is proven over time. Time will reveal wisdom far better than all arguments thrown before him.

In relation to Liberty’s piece, Funfare is printing the following excerpts (again without any further comment) from Neal H. Cruz’s column As I See It (Philippine Daily Inquirer, Nov. 25, 2003 issue):

The main issue the elitists have against Fernando Poe Jr. as a presidential candidate is that he is a high school dropout. So what? The Constitution does not require the President to be a college graduate, or even a high school or kindergarten graduate. Nine American presidents never went to college, including such great presidents as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln (although Lincoln was accepted to the bar and practiced law, he was largely self-taught) and even the 20th century president who won the war against Japan, Harry S. Truman. The others are Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore and Grover Cleveland. In fact, the 17th president of the United States, Andrew Johnson, never went to school at all. His wife taught him to read and write.

Another issue against FPJ is that he is a movie actor. Again, so what? Ronald Reagan, the 40th president, was also a movie actor, a not so good one at that. (His roles were usually as a sidekick to that dashing hero Errol Flynn).) But Reagan turned out to be one of the better American presidents. It was Reagan who turned around the ailing American economy (and made "Reaganomics" an economic byword), the same thing that is ailing the Philippines now...

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