Show biz is said to have crept into Philippine politics. Now, politics is upon show biz, big time.
The political buzz among stars began in earnest when Kris Aquino, presidential candidate Sen. Noynoy Aquino’s high-profile younger sister, arrived last week from a brief vacation in Hawaii.
On Thursday, at a press conference to launch a laundry product, the actress-TV host named 11 personalities who have pledged support to Noynoy’s campaign—all for love: Boy Abunda, Aiai delas Alas, Claudine Barretto, Mariel Rodriguez, Bea Alonzo, Anne Curtis, Sitti, Pooh, Jim Paredes, Ogie Alcasid and Regine Velasquez.
Kris said the Aquino family is having dinner on Sunday with these stars, and others who may jump on board until then. The expanded list could include Dingdong Dantes, whom the Aquinos is actively recruiting—and whose only request prior to an official agreement, according to Kris, is a one-on-one meeting with Noynoy.
Except for Paredes, who only recently resumed performing, all are in the top tier of the current register of stars; and all but two are affiliated with ABS-CBN, like Kris. Alcasid and Dantes are with rival network GMA 7.
Last Monday, ABS-CBN’s late-night news program “Bandila” aired an interview with Kris, one of the network’s top stars, and also one of the busiest product endorsers in the country, in which she pledged a chunk of her earnings to Noynoy’s campaign fund.
In a separate interview, Abunda—Kris’ closest friend and also a prized talent of the network—said he would mortgage, or even sell, two of his houses (maybe a third one, too, where his mother lives, he said), to contribute to various Noynoy-for-president movements.
