Why Marian Rivera wouldn’t run for public workplace

Marian Rivera as Instructor Emmy in “Balota,” which earned her the Cinemalaya greatest actress award —PHOTOS FROM GMA PICTURES

Politics and present biz aren’t the unusual bedfellows they have been as soon as considered—at the least not within the Philippines, the place actors and different celebrities have lengthy been making an attempt, and proving, their luck in public workplace.

Simply take a look at a few of the names who made headlines within the weeklong submitting of certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the 2025 elections earlier this month.

Marian Rivera, one in every of as we speak’s greatest stars, admitted that she has, on not a number of events, acquired proposals to run for a authorities place. “Marami!” she revealed in a latest interview with Life-style and choose reporters.

However she by no means gave them something remotely near a second thought. Why would she? “Ano naman ang i-o-offer ko sa kanila?” the ever no-nonsense actress quipped earlier than laughing.

Rivera would a lot relatively deal with her charity work and elevating her children—Zia, 8, and Sixto, 5—along with her husband, actor and TV host Dingdong Dantes. Or she will be able to persist with what she does greatest and use her platform for politically and socially related initiatives, like her newest film “Balota,” which premiered on the 2024 Cinemalaya Movie Competition and began its nationwide theatrical run final Oct. 16.

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Produced by GMA Photos and directed by Kip Oebanda, the satire drama thriller is ready in 2007 in a rural municipality, the place locals are compelled to decide on between a former horny actor and a land-grabbing tycoon as their subsequent mayor. The tight race results in conflicts. And violence inevitably descends in town come election day.

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Amid the chaos, Emmy (Rivera), a strict however well-loved instructor, flees to the forest, heading off goons and risking her life to guard the poll field containing the final remaining copy of the election outcomes. Nonetheless, she finally ends up paying a steep value for upholding her ideas. In her dogged persistence to defend the democratic course of, her neighborhood finds itself caught within the crossfire.

Well timed

For Rivera, the message of the movie couldn’t be extra well timed. “I hope it conjures up viewers to replicate. Voting is one thing we have to do, not just for ourselves, but additionally for our family members. All of us need a peaceable election and winners who will genuinely lead us and who will probably be there for us,” Rivera mentioned.

Whereas the jaded and cynical could have resigned themselves to the notion that their decisions are futile within the grand scheme of issues, Rivera begged to vary. “Like what Emmy says within the film, ‘You don’t need to promote your vote.’ We have now to guard it. It’s vital … even for those who really feel like your one vote gained’t matter or make a distinction. We will all make an influence,” Rivera mentioned.

However greater than the sanctity of voting, the movie additionally builds a case in opposition to patriarchal and patronage politics. This explains the prominence of feminine and LGBTQIA+ protagonists, which embody Babe (Sassa Gurl) and Ehrmengard (Esnyr), the riotous duo whose friendship will get examined by their contrasting political beliefs.

“We need to create a counter-argument that energy ought to lie within the folks and people; it needs to be in protesting and talking out for our welfare. We shouldn’t simply rely—or relaxation our personal futures—on cartoonishly macho figures that exist in Philippine politics,” Oebanda informed Life-style.

In a approach, “Balota” is Oebanda’s response to the 2022 elections—the outcomes of which, he admitted, affected him profoundly. In any case, the filmmaker is greatest identified for “Liway,” the award-winning 2018 movie informed from his standpoint of rising up in a jail camp together with his mom and martial legislation dissident Cecilia Flores- Oebanda.

The movie additionally allowed him to encapsulate and satirize the “lies, revisionism, violence and dishonest” which have lengthy plagued the nation and elections—however in a approach that doesn’t additional polarize our already politically fractured society.

It may be tempting to advocate for one’s private politics in initiatives like this one. However Oebanda didn’t permit himself to fall into that entice. He knew from the get-go that, if he have been to push by with this movie, he must get out of the echo chamber many people unwittingly discover ourselves in amid the noise round us, particularly on social media.

“One of many issues I did in 2022 was analyze the social media actions, traits and habits of individuals from the other sides of the political spectrum. For hundreds of hours, I watched content material from each side, took notice of what satisfied them and engaged them,” Oebanda mentioned.

He additionally disengaged from his circles, and as an alternative, mingled with the everyman who would finally turn into his check viewers—the home helpers, drivers, safety guards and different staff.

Dearth of content material

What he discovered was that there was a dearth of content material that appeals to political tribes that establish, or are perceived, as both conservative or progressive. “We’re all the time interesting to ourselves, maybe as a result of we need to impress that group we exist already in. The discourse circulates in just one space,” he mentioned.

Some critics and viewers discovered the film’s presentation of its themes fairly rudimentary. However that is by design, as a result of as Oebanda realized whereas doing his legwork and after a showcase finally month’s Hawaii Worldwide Movie Competition, many individuals don’t even agree with the premise that democracy as an establishment is vital.

“I can’t consider that in 2024, there are nonetheless many individuals who consider that we now have an excessive amount of freedom, and that we’re higher dominated than making our personal selections,” Oebanda mentioned. “So how do you speak to an individual like that? You need to lay down the fundamental circumstances and predicates.”

And what’s apparent to some stays hidden in plain sight to others. “Audiences who’ve data of political science might imagine, ‘Ah, however these are apparent.’ But when these items are apparent, then why do the identical issues carry on occurring? And it appears to be solely getting worse. Take a look at those that lately filed COCs,” he mentioned. “It’s actually an try on my half to achieve individuals who don’t agree with me politically,” he added.

The movie is propelled by Rivera’s compelling efficiency, which earned her the Cinemalaya greatest actress award. Breaking free from the conventions of mainstream appearing which have turn into second nature to her, Rivera was capable of discover the breadth of her emotional vary, which wasn’t all the time potential in a few of her previous tv outings.

However the trophy was only a bonus. Echoing Oebanda’s sentiments, Rivera mentioned reaching a wider viewers is the extra urgent objective. As such, they’re protecting their fingers crossed that the movie’s business launch can spark as a lot curiosity as its preliminary pageant run.

“It could be a missed alternative, we thought, if we don’t put it out in common cinemas,” Rivera mentioned. “If extra folks can see this, it might function a wake-up name for them.” INQ