EDITORIAL - The end of star magic?

Barring any other developments, the Commission on Elections is set to proclaim the following as the newest elected senators today:

Bong Go, who won with 27,121,073 votes, Bam Aquino with 20,971,899 votes, Ronald dela Rosa with 20,773,946 votes, Erwin Tulfo with 17,118,881 votes, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan with 15,343,229 votes, Rodante Marcoleta with 15,250,723 votes, Panfilo Lacson with 15,106,111 votes, Vicente Sotto III with 14,832,996 votes, Pia Cayetano with 14,573,430 votes, Camille Villar with 13,651,274 votes, Lito Lapid with 13,394,102 votes, and Imee Marcos with 13,339,227 votes.

Notice that the following are absent from the list of winners: show host Willy Revillame, actor Philip Salvador, media personality Ben Tulfo, boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, actor Bong Revilla, singer Jimmy Bondoc, and televangelist Apollo Quiboloy.

Notice that aside from Pacquiao, Bondoc, and Revilla, the others really don't have political experience. Notice that most of them are popular figures banking on their fame more than a political background when they ran for senator.

Dare we hope that the Philippine electorate is finally starting to realize that being famous or being an entertainer doesn't translate to being a good lawmaker? Dare we hope that they no longer want spring chickens without a whiff of political experience? Dare we hope that the people have had enough of actors, family members, and athletes in this supposedly august body?

Yes, some might attribute Pacquiao's loss to his joining the administration slate, seen as a betrayal of Mindanao voters, but then again this doesn't explain Salvador and Bondoc's defeat because they are allied with PDP.

But then again, such an idea --that star magic isn’t magic anymore-- doesn't support the victory of Erwin Tulfo, a media personality, or also the continued and baffling resilience of Lapid, a former actor but silent senator without notable achievement in the Senate, or of Camille Villar, a political neophyte suddenly thrust into a level of office only those with vast public service experience deserve.

So what is it, really? Whatever the reason is, it remains a fact that majority of those who banked on star magic didn't make the magic 12, and we really can't say we aren't disappointed.

In the end we would like to think that Filipino voters have slowly but surely started to wise up about who gets their vote. About who they put in the Senate. That they no longer want clowns, comedians, actors, and athletes to be in positions that put them a breath or two away from the highest post in the land.