SEND IN THE CLOWN – from May 10, 2007

My childhood was filled with memories of me, josant, and jaime being together outside of school hours and spending hours playing on the street, Nintendo, biking, watching tv, wrestling, and pretending like we’re tito, vic, and joey, bioman, ninja turtles, or the ghostbusters.

Tito, vic, and joey…the trio from eat!bulaga, iskulbukol, tvj, and movies like super wan, tu, tri, send in the clowns, and kabayo kids…I was tito, josant was vic, and jaime was joey. TVJ were my icons, especially tito sotto. Vic and joey were always the funniest and most successful on tv and movies but it was tito who got my respect.

He was a champion bowler, topnotch tv host (brigade siete) and quizmaster (remember kilometrico?), accomplished musician — the brain behind VST and co., producer of sharon cuneta and rey valera, composed ikaw lang ang aking mahal and magkaisa…but most of all, he was a working senator.

It worked for him that he was a popular comedian when he ran for the senate in 1992, which he topped. He was even considered as (and would have won) vice president in 1998 if not for power-hungry people like de venecia who muddled in the arroyo-sotto tandem that could have stopped the estrada juggernaut then.

But the same factor that worked for him, are the same reasons why he is having difficulty in this year’s election. Tito was always dismissed as “just a comedian”, a “clown” whose slot in the senate was a waste. It’s a classic case of image preceding one’s record.

But for those who may care, since the internet makes information easily accessible to us, you may want to check out his senate record…he was one of the very few senators who really worked. Some senators showcased their intellectual and oral flair in front of the media but neglected their real purpose as a senator, legislation.

I never agreed on his position on the Estrada case. But to my mind, I just felt he knew his constituents. The ones who voted for him are the “masa” who supports erap overwhelmingly. The other social classes hardly studied his credentials and dismiss him as “lightweight.”

I partly blame Tito for the collapse of my dream to have a ROCO administration. Together with several elements, he pushed a reluctant FPJ to run for president. This provided the setup for Gloria Arroyo to win the elections. It was easier to demolish FPJ than for GMA to go head-on with Raul Roco. This resulted to GMA winning coz millions were stupidly convinced that voting for GMA is the only way to stop an FPJ presidency. If Tito was part of a grand plan to ensure GMA’s win in 2004, i actually think so.

But all these aside, I still strongly support Tito’s senatorial return. Though he was a childhood idol, people who know me well are aware that I take politics seriously. In 1998 and this year, I would have never recommended Tito Sotto if he did not prove himself worthy to be a senator the first time around.

Now, Tito may suffer the same fate as Robert Jaworski, another idol that I believe to have worked exceptionally well in the senate but made a serious mistake in 2004. Tito and jawo thought their popularity will be enough to carry them to another election, regardless of affiliations. No.

No matter how they thought they worked hard to win the votes of the “learned” ones, their voters remain to be the masa. When they ran under Gloria’s cloak, post –EDSA dos, they alienated their main source of votes.

I hope Tito defies the result of this mistake. No matter how much I wanna see him more on eat! Bulaga, he would be more useful and fulfilled in the Senate. Anyway, Vic (the reigning movie king) and Joey (the undeniable TV king) has left him eating dust in terms of entertainment talent and achievements.

Send in the “clown” back to the senate.