The Change Mariner

TV, movies are king as Philippines prepares to elect new president

ChannelNewsAsia:
Television and the movies are transforming the Philippine political landscape as the star-struck electorate put a film icon and a network star on pole position in next May's presidential vote.

Only five years ago, Filipinos elected film star Joseph Estrada as president and dumped him with the nonchalance of a channel surfer before his term ended.

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Now Fernando Poe, the Philippines' answer to "John Wayne" who is also known as "FPJ", and TV newscaster Noli de Castro are tied for the lead in the latest survey. The stars have put President Gloria Arroyo in the shade.

"Media is a force in this country," said Jose Leviste, chairman of the Manila-based political risk consultancy Polistrat International.

"It also explains why the strongest political party in the country is ABS-CBN," the broadcast network that also employs de Castro. "These are just the facts of life."

Estrada blazed the trail when he won a landslide election in 1998 with Arroyo as vice president. A popular revolt sparked by a corruption scandal eased Estrada from office in 2001 and Arroyo took his place.

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