Actor faces tough odds in Manda polls

Actor Philip Salvador will throw his hat in the vice mayoralty race in Mandaluyong City.

However, despite his popularity and the full backing of San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada, Salvador will be facing tough odds to win in the coming elections.

He will be facing incumbent Vice Mayor Jessie Cruz, a well-loved and hardworking local government official, who grew up in the city.

Earlier, Presidential son Jojo Osorio Ejercito, had also made public his intentions to seek the vice mayoralty but he has not been heard from since President Estrada’s impeachment trial started.

For him to make it, Salvador has also to contend with the Catholic Church’s call for its followers not to support unqualified actors and actresses and his being not a "true-blood" city resident.

A number of movie personalities have ran for seats in the city government but not one of them, except singer and incumbent councilor Jarius Razon have made it.

Those who failed in their bids were Pancho Magalona, Robert Arevalo, Jose Marie Gonzales and Bomber Moran. Magalona and Gonzales ran for Congress, Arevalo for mayor and Moran for councilor. Gonzales, however, later ran for the lone congressional seat of San Juan in the last elections and won.

With less than five months to the elections, Salvador and his mayoralty candidate, Bibot Domingo, have made themselves visible in the city’s 27 barangays the past few weeks attending wakes and birthday parties. Both will run under the administration party Lapiang Manggagawa ng Pilipinas (LMP).

A private survey held recently, however, showed Domingo and Salvador clobbered by a large margin by the tandem of incumbent Mayor Benhur Abalos and Vice Mayor Cruz.

Cruz ran under the LAMP banner in the last elections but was prevailed upon by Abalos to be his running mate in the LAKAS-NUCD ticket this coming elections.

The vice mayor is unfazed by Salvador’s challenge. "I will give him a good fight. Tiwala ako sa electorate ng Mandaluyong City," said Cruz during an informal talk with reporters Friday night. "Our battlecry will be performance."

Cruz said he and Abalos will present to the city’s 180,000 voters their plans and programs for the improvement of city residents’ welfare and livelihood. "We will not resort to name-calling nor attack our opponents’ personalities," he added.

He admitted they have not completed their ticket yet amid reports that Domingo and Salvador might switch positions at the last minute. There are reports that Malacañang would use its vast influence and resources to unseat Abalos, whose family joined the groups seeking Mr. Estrada’s resignation.

Their ticket, according to Cruz, will be supported by Rep. Boyet Gonzales, who resigned from LAMP and will seek the same post as an Independent. There are reports that LAMP would field Ram Antonio against Gonzales. – Non Alquitran