Who will run, who will not, who may, who might

Confirmed: Bebong Muñoz is running for Congressman of Caloocan City in next year’s elections. A bright lawyer who has worked with top companies in the US, Bebong is not new to politics. A few years ago while a student, Bebong was a member of a youth group that actively campaigned for a presidential candidate (who won). Also, not many people know that politics does run in Bebong’s blood. His mother, Alita, is the sister of Asistio brothers Boy and Baby who, as everybody knows, come from a politically prominent family in Caloocan City.

So why is Bebong’s name included in this list of showbiz guys bruited about to be running in the same electoral race? Simple: He’s showbiz by affiliation, his girlfriend being Jolina Magdangal who should be Bebong’s effective vote-getter.

That is, if and when there would be elections next year. Or haven’t you noticed that only the opposition seems to be gearing up for that supposedly "decisive" exercise while the administration is intriguingly silent (or plain secretive)?

Anyway, here’s a rundown of those who will run, who will not run, who may run and who might not run.

• WHO WILL RUN

• Ex-Sen. Tito Sotto (For same position)

• Nadia Montenegro (For Mayor of Caloocan City which her beloved Boy Asistio once ruled as mayor)

• Richard Gomez (For Governor of Bulacan. Or, why not, for Senator!)

• Councilor Isko Moreno (For Vice Mayor of Manila)

• Councilor Robert Ortega (For Vice Mayor of Manila)

• Quezon City Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista (For reelection, with Q.C. Mayor Sonny Belmonte)

• Lito Lapid (For Mayor of Makati City. Friendly advice: Don’t!!!)

• Manny Pacquiao (For Vice Mayor of Manila. Friendly advice: Don’t!!! You can serve the country better by staying out of politics; the ring is where you belong.)

• Manila Councilor Cita Astals (For reelection)

• WHO WILL NOT

• Sharon Cuneta ("Running for Pasay City Mayor? I’d rather run on the treadmill!")

• Incumbent Lipa City Mayor (third-termer) Vilma Santos ("For Batangas Governor? So far, no plans."

• Susan Roces ("For Mayor of Quezon City? Who said so?")

• Cesar Montano (For Vice Mayor of Manila. "Not the right time yet.")

• Aga Muhlach (For Mayor of Mataas na Kahoy town near Lipa, Batangas, where he has a resthouse. "No way!")

• Korina Sanchez (For Senator? Ask her boyfriend Sen. Mar Roxas!)

• WHO MAY RUN

• 2004 Vice-Presidentiable Loren Legarda (For Sentor? But what about her pending election protest against incumbent Vice President Noli de Castro?)

• Ex-Caloocan City Mayor Rey Malonzo (For Congressman of Caloocan City)

• Incumbent Pampanga Gov. Mark Lapid (For reelection)

• Caloocan City Mayor Dennis Padilla (For reelection)

• Incumbent Rizal Vice Gov. Jestoni Alarcon (For reelection)

• Incumbent Parañaque City Vice Mayor Anjo Yllana (For Mayor)

• Incumbent Cainta (Rizal) Mayor Mon Ilagan (For reelection)

• Incumbent Councilor Barbara Milano (For reelection, of Talavera, Nueva Ecija)

• Incumbent Makati City Councilor Rico J. Puno (For reelection)

• WHO MIGHT RUN

• Ex-Mandaluyong City Councilor Darius Razon (For same position)

• Ex-Laguna Vice Gov. Dan Fernandez (For governor)

• Incumbent Laguna Board Member Marco Sison (For reelection)

• One-time Parañaque City First Lady Alma Moreno (For mayor?)

(Note: As the elections draw near • if and when there’d be elections • the list will grow longer and longer. You bet?)

What happened at the Dream Academy?

My friend Aida Macaraeg (namesake of Vilma Santos’ character in the Lino Brocka movie) fell off her seat the other day while watching the initial telecast of the new ABS-CBS reality-TV show Dream Academy (the 24-hour version on Studio 23) early evening.

Reason: She saw a female "scholar" in a torried lips-to-lips kiss with a handsome foreigner-aspirant who was bidding goodbye because he didn’t qualify.

"How could that torrid kiss got aired?" Aida Macaraeg is asking Funfare.

A little sleuthing and Aida Macaraeg unearthed this: The two fell in love inside the Dream Academy. Obviously, they forgot that there were hidden cameras around, thus they got carried away. It was too late when the cameras were turned the other way.

"After that torrid kissing scene," recalled Aida Macaraeg, "the screen went blank for about 30 minutes and when the telecast resumed, the female ‘scholar’ was shown prim and proper, conducting a lecture before ‘students.’ The handsome foreigner was nowhere to be seen. Siguro napagsabihan na ng kung sino."

Oh no, do they also teach "sex education" inside the Dream Academy?

"Heaven forbid!" Aida Macareag said, making the sign of the cross.

Two Pinays in CBS’s Survivor episode

Here’s an interesting contribution from Funfare’s Big Apple correspondent Edmund Silvestre (news editor of the New York-based The Filipino Reporter):

One of the most controversial stories in the US this week is the CBS’ launching of the upcoming season’s Survivor series wherein the top-rated reality show is pitting against each other four teams of 20 castaways according to their race • Asians, Latinos, blacks and whites • for the $1-M US prize while stranded on the Cook Islands in the South Pacific.

The show's format has enraged people from various states, including New York, who are demanding that the idea or the show itself, which will premiere on Sept. 14, be yanked.

Survivor is the original reality show that paved the way for other real-life series including American Idol, Big Brother and Amazing Race, as well as the Philippines’ Extra Challenge. Survivor’s latest gimmickry came at a time when racial tension is still gripping the United States.

Incidentally, two of the five members of the Asian-American tribe in the latest Survivor edition are Filipinos: Brad Virata, 29, a fashion director from Los Angeles, California; and Jenny Guzon-Bae, 36, a real estate agent from Lake Forest, Illinois.

Mychal Massie, national chairman of the conservative African-American group Project 21, told CNSNews.com, a unit of the conservative Media Research Center, that the show will perpetuate "a racial divide, and I’m not certain that this particular racial divide is not intentional to show one [racial] group as more adept or more adroit than another group." New York Post TV columnist Linda Stasi wrote that "the whole concept is racist. Of course, it's ugly as can be. So will Survivor: Race Wars be a ratings winner? You bet! If racism hadn’t turned into entertainment, it wouldn’t be called ‘playing the race card.’"  

CBS has defended the show claiming that it is trying to be creative, to "try something new." And not everyone is condemning the show.

Babes Harington, a Filipina who lives in New York City and the South of France, said it's just any other game where contestants are divided according to a particular bracket. "It could be boys versus girls, or one school against another, or the youth versus the elderly," she told The Filipino Reporter. "But I understand the ongoing the controversy... it’s because of racial tension. But sometimes people have to lighten up instead of becoming paranoid."

"I think it’s a good idea," said Ashley Mead, a white woman who designs wardrobes for TV shows. "It gives people extra incentive to watch the show, now, out of sheer intrigue. I wouldn’t have watched it before, since it seemed kind of dull, but this adds new flavor."

The show’s host, Jeff Probst, said that the idea came after criticism that Survivor was not ethnically diverse enough.

"I think it fits in perfectly with what Survivor does • it is a social experiment," he told Harry Smith on CBS' Early Show. "And this is adding another layer to that experiment, which is taking the show to a completely different level."

Popular talk show host Rush Limbaugh predicted "the Asian American tribe probably will outsmart everybody, but will that help them in the ultimate survival contest?"

New York City Councilman John Liu, a Chinese American, led a coalition of officials, including the city council's black, Latino and Asian caucus, at a Friday (Aug. 25) rally at the steps of City Hall in Manhattan, urging CBS to pull the show.

Fr. Corsie’s healing sked for Sept.

Here’s Fr. Corsie Legaspi’s healing schedule for September:

• Sept. 1, Friday, at the Coming Home Retreat and Meditation Center, Binakayan, Cavite

• Sept. 4, Monday, at the Carmelite Chapel, Angeles City, Pampanga

• Sept. 6, Wednesday, at the Coming Home Retreat and Meditation Center, Binakayan, Cavite

• Sept. 7, Thursday, at the San Ildefonso Parish Church, Pio del Pilar, Makati City

• Sept. 9 (Saturday),25 (Monday), 26 (Tuesday), 27 (Wednesday) and 30 (Saturday), at the Coming Home Retreat and Meditation Center, Binakayan, Cavite.

(Note: Healing time is from 1 to 5 p.m. For further inquiries, call Philip at 046-434-8759 or 046-878-0069, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.)

What’s up?

• The PAL flight attendants of PR 731 from Bangkok last Monday made the three-hour flight easy and breezy with their friendliness (ask STAR columnist Wilson Lee Flores), namely: Gerard Villavicencio (from Iloilo), Badjyng Recio McFadin (from Cebu), Fe Sucgang Gindap (who appeared with her twin sister, also a PAL flight stewardess, as child actresses in the Chiquito movie Ulong Pugot Naglalagot years ago) and Jomel O. Villanueva (from Tiwi, Albay; and my schoolmate at Tabaco Pei Ching School in Tabaco City, Albay).

(E-mail reactions at [email protected])