Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Love means never having to say you’ve lost an election
GMA’s I-Witness last night reported on the curious trend of politicians marrying wives from showbiz-- Jules Ledesma and Assunta de Rossi, Ralph Recto and Vilma santos, Sharon Cuneta and Francis Panglinan, Dudut Jaworski and Mikee Cojuangco, etc. The increasing practice, in the opinion of some, reeks of political opportunism.

Why does there seem to be a trend toward marrying showbiz celebrities? That they are more pulchritudinous is surely a factor in the attraction, but there is more to the story than pheromones doing their job. Showbiz spouses pluck aspiring politicians from humdrum obscurity and give them instant name recognition. There is no doubt, for example, that Recto could never have won a Senate seat had he not picked Vilma Santos to be his bride.

The scions of traditional political families in the country are feeling the effect of their weakened alliance with the poor based on previous paternalistic relationships. Their political clans' clients can no longer be counted on to deliver the votes to secure a majority come election time. Hence, the resort to showbiz wives to enthrall and catch the attention of the straying poor.

Are these mariagges despicable? Surely no. People fall in love when they fall in love. It is just that for some people marital happiness is best secured by a public office. People have varying definitions of love and for some, public office is a necessary predicate to theirs.

These marriages, while arguably debasing the romantic idea of true love, are, in fact, good for the society. They diversify the moribund gene pool of the country's elite. Without showbiz stars to catch their interest, these politicos would be marrying one of their ilk of the same economic background. Their marrying showbiz stars spread old money more evenly, their marriages having the unintended felicitous effect of what in this benighted country of ours could pass for economic redistribution. Just think of Assunta and Jules and you will understand.

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