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While most candidates boast of purported achievements and make vows made to be broken, 40-year-old Sonny Angara is the only one unabashedly offering the public the promise of a good-looking senator. A series of emails sent to media by the Angara campaign has set aside all modesty and called him “an epitome of a Pinoy heartthrob,” “kilabot ng mga bebot,” and “like ng mga lola," in addition to the more commonplace “guwapo” and “handsome." There have been some physically attractive candidates before, but most have sought to prove that they were more than a pretty face by focusing on advocacies or knowledge in a particular field. Angara has talked about advocacies, for sure, but his campaign has not been remiss in reminding the public just how pretty their candidate is, in case some voters have not noticed. "Ang gara ng face" was a line in one press release, attempting clever word play on his name. The most recent in-your-face brandishing of his face was a press release that tried to explain why Angara's celebrity endorser actor Coco Martin was not showing up at his rallies. It quoted Team PNoy spokesman Miro Quimbo as saying that Martin was afraid that he would be out-handsomed by the candidate: "Sinabi ng manager ni Coco Martin na nai-insecure na si Coco Martin kay Sonny Angara. Nagkakalituhan kung sino na si Juan de la Cruz," Quimbo said perhaps with a straight face, referring to Martin's TV show Juan de la Cruz.
The first email that went all out in face campaigning was on February 27 and entitled “Sonny Angara: A New Pinoy Heartthrob.” Then the next day, it was revised and bore the title, “Sonny Angara: A New Pinoy Idol," referencing another TV show.
In the revised release, two sentences were added in what may have been an attempt to make it more analytical: "Can good looks win votes? Angara agrees a candidate's good appearance does count but it is not the be-all and end- all. Angara is confident that talents, abilities, track record and dedication to the public good will separate the victorious from losers.” But then there are the unanalytical descriptions of his rock-star encounters with the masses, as this line claims: "In one of the campaign sorties, the senatorial campaign newbie was taken aback when a fan asked for the trademark yellow camisa de chino he was wearing as a 'souvenir.' He smiled and politely refused after realizing he had no undershirt at the time..." That hint of a half-naked Angara perhaps was meant to excite readers, but media recipients were a bit more skeptical. When asked for comment on the intended effect of constantly reminding voters of just how handsome he is, Angara sent an evasive direct message via Twitter to GMA News, "Haha a lot of ppol ask why i wear that camisa de chino when campaigning. Mainly kasi comportable siya kahit mainit presko pa din." The married-with-children Angara even teases his fans by telling them that rather than being simply married, his social status is, "It's complicated!"
His campaign may have gotten the idea for this handsome strategy when he was one of the two telegenic spokespersons who would often face each other during the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona last year, the other one the beguiling Attorney Karen Jimeno, Angara's counterpart on the Corona team.
Was it necessary or wise for a political campaign to point out what should be obvious? Some squeamishness about the topic is suggested by the absence of at least one “guwapo” press release on Angara's campaign website. But situations described in it, particularly incidents of “stealing hugs and kisses,” are prominently depicted in pictures posted in the media gallery section.
The "heartthrob" essence of his press announcements has gotten him some media mileage. It was the focus of articles in the entertainment sections of Abante Online and Journal Online in March.
Angara's media handlers are simply acknowledging the importance of the showbiz element in political campaigns and that in close fights, especially in the jostling to squeak into the magic 12 in the senatorial race, "good looks" could be decisive. In the event that voters were more preoccupied with the candidates' positions on the issues, Angara staffers want to make sure voters know that regardless of his stand on anything, he's still pogi and that should matter in the election.
The "handsome" press releases failed to give due credit. Sonny is a junior but the good looks apparently came from his non-politician, low-profile mother, the former teacher Gloria Angara. – GMA News
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