Press Statement
July 20, 1999



AFTER seeing the nerve-wracking Total War Policy in Cory Gets to be President and the explosion of the Philippines 2000 balloon in the FVR’s (Fidel Valdes Ramos) Smoke Gets In Yours Eyes, moviegoers are in for another surprise in the new movie "Erap Para sa Mahirap."

Joseph Ejercito Estrada displays his style of leadership in this Marcos- inspired movie flick. In this new release, after his role as a Vice- President, Erap takes up the role as a President who facilitates a dubious plan of resurrection and greed.

In his effort to summon back the power of the Marcoses, he almost succeeded in his attempt to allow a hero's burial for the late dictator. The setting steams with graft and corruption as it becomes the order of the day, alongside the military forces of America marching back to the beautiful island called the Philippines via the approval of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

Here, Erap exudes the feeling of an unsatisfied man, so he goes on to pursue his vision. He declares a wage freeze and sing in a monotone in front of the media that a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) does not suit his pro-business tongue. The plot thickens when he released his own version of the Charter Change or CHA-CHA reminiscent of the climax in FVR’s Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.

But using the latest special effects available in the market, he conjures an illusion that his CHA-CHA are worlds apart from the last version of the CHA-CHA, simply because it is being done very early in his term. Another illusory difference would be that it focuses primarily on economic changes, like allowing 100% ownership of companies and the permit to do retail. But to the trained eye of the viewer, spotting the similarities is easy.

Needles to say, old formulas were use as an ingredient to make this supposed redemption movie turn really bad. The paradigm of commercialized education is very evident on this flick. Tuition fees are deregulated, allowing more than 300 schools nationwide to increase their tuition fees and other school fees, compared to last years’ 200+ mark.

Citing the scene in Arellano University in Manila, wherein students faced a 63% tuition fee increase causing a 50% drop in the number of students able to enroll. The 70-20-10 sharing scheme continues to be violated by capitalist-educators as evident with happened in Manuel Luis Quezon University (MLQU) where employees and teachers demand for a pay raise is still unanswered even though the school continues to raise tuition fees.

Students of UE Recto were expelled because they joined an anti-tuition fee increase rally. In UP, theses of students are being sold to the highest bidder, most likely foreign MNC’s. Another rehash of old movie recipes was the use of the famous adage by Machiavelli "better be feared than loved", a favorite by the dictator Marcos, as obvious in the scenes wherein Vic Ladlad is manhandled and abducted by Intelligence Operatives.

In the State of the Nation Address, Erap will again play the charlatan, telling the people how good their lives are, how lucky they are for having a president who loves them most. But the problem with this scene is that this has been used over and over again and the moviegoers are irritated when fiction tries to replace reality.

The casting ensemble was composed of former superstars, dating back to the era of the Marcoses. Included in the billing list, whose in his last performance he played the coconut levy king, now Danding Cojuanco plays the role of the land reform king. Lucio Tan acts a guardian angel of the Philippine AirLines (PAL) by entrenching thousands of its workers and bleeding the company dry.

Alongside this role, he also potrays a man who can get away with billions of unpaid taxes as long as he greases the campaign fund of the leading actor.

Then there is the leading lady Imelda Marcos, who plays the Ulirang Ina. Her roles epitomize a wife of a dictator, a personage living off the loot plundered from the coffers of the nation. Her being an accomplice to the thousands of human rights abuse cases during the reign of terror of her husband, plus all of her crimes to humanity are accented by her ability to get away with it.

Last but definitely not the least is the macho president, Erap himself. Here Erap tries to outdo the efforts of Cory and Ramos by plunging the economy to a deeper hell of poverty, wherein the Ph Peso just worth PhP 0.69 compared to 5 years ago. It is a marvel to look at an actor pretending to be a president, pretending to be an actor intoning the slogans that he is pro-poor and pro-business at the same time without even blinking and with full confidence.

A thespian worth the Kalabasa Award.

Rating: The Poor are poorer, the rich get richer. Sequels not at all entertained.#

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