He projected his sincerity, and in a cynical society that gleams like gold

We’ve been receiving a torrent of comments, phone calls, and non-stop text messages, about our IMPACT 2004 no-holds-barred dialogue with FPJ. So have ABS-CBN and The Philippine STAR. From friends in the AB sector, many remarks were derisive of Ronnie Poe, as might have been expected. Some were encouraging.

One, from the perceptive and brilliant daughter of a famous politician, a two-fisted leader in his time (he’s now gone on to the paradise of Happy Warriors) said: "Max, congrats on IMPACT. You brought out the gentleman that FPJ is, and inadvertently his kagaguhan (stupidity)."

I’m sure some of FPJ’s friends and advisers are now telling him that he shouldn’t have consented to appearing on such an intimate question-and-answer program when he had been shunning such interviews. (The show, indeed, created a firestorm of conversation, criticism, appreciation and opinion.) It even changed the nature of the political debate in this election campaign, since FPJ practically scuttled "The Great Debate" which was being organized on nationwide radio-TV-and print media tie-up, by declaring on IMPACT (a sequence flashed immediately last Wednesday on most ANC/ABS-CBN TV and radio news broadcasts) that he refused to participate in that "debate".

At once, President GMA pulled out of the debate, followed by Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson. Why didn’t he want to debate? Was Da King afraid he’d be tied up in knots by more accomplished debaters, and orators like ex-Senator Raul Roco, even out-gospelled by Brother Eddie Villanueva?

Eddie Gil still has to demonstrate his talents outside of check-writing.

FPJ told me he simply thought debating was a waste of time and effort, when the times called for action. For deeds, not words. This was both on camera and off-camera. Many things were said, off camera, which provide insights into the character of this upstart Panday (blacksmith) who hopes to soar to the Palace like a lawin (The Hawk, one of his famous roles) or be carried on the shoulders of the masa and the downtrodden to grasp the scepter of leadership in our land.

True enough, FPJ stumbled on several questions. There are those who insist he should have spoken more in Tagalog – in truth, if you’ll recall, I said he could reply in Tagalog, Ilocano, Cebuano, or any dialect he chose. This may sound flippant, but I tried to reinforce the idea that what matters is not the language, but the thought and intention behind the answer. In this country, we are a babel of tongues. What matters is that we must learn to feel with one heart, and reach a consensus out of the quarrel of many discourses.

Dictatorships are neat and tidy. Democracies usually sound noisy and discordant.

When all is said and done, FPJ manfully faced our questioning – and bared his soul. I wish I could put on such interviews "live", with questions from the TV audience, but, alas, the reality of this whirlwind campaign is that Presidentiables, including President GMA herself, are out there on the campaign trail, day after day, and we have to grab them on the run, whenever and wherever we can. If they can manage to sneak into town for a "taping", then that’s what we’ll do.

ABS-CBN’s top honcho, our friend Gabby Lopez, and I talked after our IMPACT show Friday night, and if we possibly can – though time and distance are our foes – we’ll get an O.B. van to where the candidates are, for more "live" stuff. However, that’s in the lap of the gods of possibility – and of fortune.

As for FPJ, as one who knows him a bit, from old acquaintance, let me say it: He’s no flake, nor fake. What you see is what you get. Those who saw the show may believe he sometimes fumbled in his replies, was hesitant or tongue-tied in some instances, but what he projected (in my estimation) was his sincerity. He spoke from the heart. And in the poisoned climate of our cynical society, where many among our people feel betrayed by the most promising, in truth "the best and the brightest" in our despairing nation, sincerity shines with far more lustre than gold.

Remember that old movie, Mr. Deeds Goes to Washington? It portrayed the innocent among the scornful. The hick from hicksville mobilizing the most improbable into action, refusing to be manipulated and overwhelmed by the powerful and the clever. Is this, perhaps, the secret of Panday? The most popular movie in Hollywood (today is the Oscar’s showdown) is The Return of the King.

What about Panday da King? Did he get a good, or a bad "return" from our IMPACT discourse last Friday? Let me say it again. Ronnie showed himself as Jack, surrounded by the Giants – looking both vulnerable and clumsy – but resolute in his search for the elusive Holy Grail. Do I mix my metaphors? Of course, I do. One does this when he tries to fathom a man like Panday. He may be mixed-up, too. But one thing is clear: He’s in there punching.

Can he win? That, too, lies in the hands and hearts of the people. He may not be marked for leadership, just a celluloid "hero", not a paladin in shining armor. Or he may surprise us all.