Why Vilma succeeded, Nora failed

IN THE Showbiz pages of today's Inquirer, there's this article about Lipa City mayor and aspiring Batangas governor Vilma Santos and her husband, Sen. Ralph Recto, who was recently taken to task by GMA Network's Howie Severino for effectively naming a school after himself.

While mostly about the couple's private and political life, these three of the article's 38 paragraphs accounted for the title "Why Vilma succeeded, Nora failed in politics":

Why did she think she succeeded in politics, where her arch rival in the movies, Nora Aunor, failed?

“I think it boils down to priorities and direction,” Santos said. “Also, we both had very bad times, financially; I guess I was lucky to have bounced back when I did.”

Smiling, the senator offered another explanation: “She met me.”

Ralph's take is actually truer than what one would ordinarily think, especially in the light of the following paragraph from a circa 2004 assessment of Camarines Sur politics, written by Noe Caceres and Perry Calara for the Kaiba News and Features.

In the last 2001 elections, they were just too happy to let Nora Aunor, a neophyte and without a territorial stake, fight the Villafuertes. That way, while waiting for the right timing in future elections, they conserve their energy and hold on to their resources. They were not ready to face the political sword of the Villafuertes. Without the support of the four district's kingpins, Nora can not survive a single round with Governor Luis Villafuerte in the electoral ring. So, Nora lost badly.

It might be talking about the pre-election scenario three years back, but that article still makes for a good read, particularly in framing the current political races in the province, where the four political houses still hold sway (for the most part), and Luis Villafuerte -- whether we like it or not -- continues to loom large, to borrow the words of Maryanne Moll.

The full article can be accessed here.