Aging film gunslinger may block Arroyo election bid2003-10-27 / Agence France-Presse
.... the Philippines could be in line for a new showbiz action hero in the palace.
But a presidency by movie icon Fernando Poe Junior could be an unmitigated disaster for the Philippines, and his ambitions have already become a nervous political joke making the rounds here ahead of the May 2004 election.
The punchline is that Japan, Manila's largest aid donor and key foreign investor, would up sticks because Poe, the Philippines' version of Hollywood hero John Wayne, has killed far too many Japanese World War II soldiers in the movies.