FVR mismatch to President GMA

The result of the recent meeting of the Lakas-NUCD in the Palace showed that former President Fidel V. Ramos no longer has any following in his own party. When push came to shove, the party members rallied behind GMA.

The idea that nobody should cut short the presidential term won. There was a consensus about this issue - and there was not even a chance for a balloting. Baka lang mapahiya si FVR pag nagkaroon pa ng botohan. Hence, FVR just went into the corner, talked to some newsmen and promoted his own defeated line that the president should make the supreme sacrifice.

Speaker Jose de Venecia proved to be the better reader of the GMA sentiment and the feelings of the members of the party. As a matter of fact, it seems that his line is the more popular. The De Venecia line calls for a continuation of the presidential term, except that she would have to share power - starting 2007- with a prime minister who will do the day-to-day affairs of government.

But under this proposal, the power of President GMA will remain undiminished. She won't be the ceremonial head of state like those found in Great Britain, Japan or Malaysia. She would be like former president Charles de Gaulle of France who is as powerful as the President in a presidential system.

FVR has lost his political and military base. Except for his honorific role in Lakas, he no longer holds any clout among the levers of power in the Philippines. His only influence is his continued access to media where he is regarded with some press release value. The problem is that he cannot galvanize a mass opposition against GMA. When he begins to attack GMA, the opposition thinks that the former general is playing some psychological warfare. He is suspected by both sides.

If the Palace and his party give FVR some attention, it is because the guy has residual ties with some powerful players in the US. And that perception of American ties is important in the Philippines. I was told that when some people in Washington want to know what's going on in the Philippines, they consult FVR who is a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam Wars. But domestically, he is finished.

* * * Lamangan on the movie industry

There was a time when the Philippine movie industry was a pride of the country, especially in Asia. But today, it is about to die, judging by the number of movies that the country produces every year.

We now produce only 25 movies a year, according to movie director Joel Lamangan, who spoke to us at the Kapihan sa Sulo last Saturday. We used to make about 200 movies, enough to employ thousands of people who man various lines in the industry. "The industry is clinically dead."

Speaking in his usual intense way, Lamangan blames the government for neglecting the industry that reflects the culture, history and soul of the Filipino people. He predicted that time will come when our culture and history would be written by foreigners.

He said that the politicians running the country look at the industry as the source of beautiful faces and comedians during elections. That is why they never pause to think on how to help the industry in terms of marketing their products to other countries. Citing the case of other countries like South Korea, Lamangan said that it is the duty of the state, not so much in providing capital but making sure that the industry is able to survive the competition.

In the case of Europe, Lamangan said, it has a clear strategy on how to survive the onslaughts of American movies. But here, we still have to see a government office calling for a national conference on how to the industry can fight the flood of imports.

The industry urgently needs help on two counts. One is that only few are interested in investing in the cinema. Only Mother Lily Monteverde seems interested in taking risk. The other problem is that severe unemployment in now taking its toll in an industry that used to be vibrant in the fifties and during the Marcos years. Lamangan himself organized the 5,000-strong guild within the industry to fight for survival, but their fate is now uncertain.

Perhaps, it is time for President GMA to call for a kind of summit among members of the industry to discuss the future. But the essence of that summit should be the need for state support and for cooperation among all members of the sector to fight competition from abroad.