FAMILY FEUD: The contest for the vice presidency appears headed for a blockbuster family feud of the giant ABS-CBN broadcast network, providing an interesting media side bar to the May 2004 presidential election.

If plans do not miscarry, ABS-CBN show host Sen. Loren Legarda will be the running mate of opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr.

Not to be outdone in the celebrity game, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has convinced the Lopez family to allow their top newsreader, Sen. Noli de Castro, to run with her as vice presidential candidate.

Barring any last-minute recasting, the decisions to field senators Legarda, 43, and De Castro, 54, will be announced before Friday, Jan. 2, the deadline for filing of certificates of candidacy and nominations for national and local positions.

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PREEMPTIVE VANTAGE: It is obvious that whichever way the election goes, ABS-CBN will capture the vice presidency in 2004. This will give the influential Lopez family a preemptive advantage in the 2010 presidential polls.

Media peers who have worked with the two broadcasters are unanimous in saying that Legarda is much taller in terms of integrity and qualifications, “especially in the brains department.” However, all popularity surveys have De Castro ahead.

And while Legarda is firm in her assertion that the Lopezes have nothing to do with her running with Poe, sources familiar with goings-on in the De Castro camp confirm that a deal has been sealed for him with the Lopezes.

Nine-digit figures are being mentioned in the De Castro transaction, which includes the Arroyo camp’s bankrolling his campaign. “Win or lose, Noli will be a run-away winner,” a source said.

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DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT: The administration is being asked to issue a diplomatic passport to former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, who has been allowed by the graft court Sandiganbayan to go to the US for his knee operation.

As expected, there was objection from the usual quarters.

Our own view is that with the face value of Philippine passport having gone down in the world’s esteem, a diplomatic passport by itself does not make much difference in an American port of entry.

What can make a difference is the Philippine diplomatic service’s making early arrangements for the courtesies of the port being accorded the former president and their meeting him at the airport.

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ALLOWED BY LAW: But if the administration decides to issue a new diplomatic passport to Mr. Estrada, that will be still within the law and the prerogative of the former president.

As pointed out by former Ambassador Rodolfo A. Arizala, emailing from Santiago, Chile, Rep. Act 8239 also known as the Philippine Passport Act of 1996 provides in Section 7, a) 1: “The Secretary or the authorized representative or consular officer may issue the following types of passport: Diplomatic passport for persons imbued with diplomatic status or are on diplomatic mission such as: The President and former Presidents of the Republic of the Philippines.”

Note also that Section 8 provides in paragraph a) 1: “The application for passport may be denied, cancelled or restricted only on the following grounds: a) Denial of Passport — On orders of the court, after due notice and hearing, to hold the departure of an applicant because of a pending criminal case; xxx 3. When the applicant has been found to have violated any of the provisions of this Act; 4. Such other disqualification under existing laws. b) Cancellation 1. When the holder is a fugitive from justice; 2. When the holder has been convicted of a criminal offense; Provided, That the passport may be restored after service of sentence; or 3. When a passport was acquired fraudulently or tampered with. xxx”

Arizala concluded: If former President Estrada does not fall under any of the grounds cited for non-issuance or cancellation of his diplomatic passport provided by law, then as former president, he may be issued a diplomatic passport.

“Getting medical treatment abroad is not being on a diplomatic mission,” he added, “but as former president, he is still imbued with diplomatic status.”

As the law uses the words “may issue” (a diplomatic passport), the issuance of such a passport to the former president — if he is not disqualified under the law — is at the discretion of the proper authority.

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CHRISTMAS IN CHINA: Another reader, Bobby San, a Filipino working in China, reacts to our last item on the commercialization of Christmas.

He tells us how the day is observed in that country of 1.3 billion, only 7 percent of whom are Christian (with 8 percent Buddhist, another 8 percent atheist, and 42 percent non-religious):

“Through the nine years that I’ve been here, I have witnessed the rapid development that at this point, sad to say, has left our country much behind.

“The peace and order situation is so good that one can walk even at night without worrying that someone would mug or poke a gun at you and grab your valuables. Girls walk around with those 20-thousand+ celfons hanging on their necks. Can you do that even in the heart of Makati?

“But the low point is that Christmas is so commercialized here. People observe the day without even knowing its real meaning. All the big malls are decorated to the hilt, with school children wearing Santa’s cap and those huge Yule trees….

“On Christmas Eve, fancy restaurants and big hotels are full. Businesses are really making a killing. But it’s sad to note that this occasion that is so sacred to us is being used in such a way.”

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FPJ TALE: Another reader emailing as Elipin38 disputes the story that gun-toting Muslim moviegoers in the South shoot at the screen when they see their idol Fernando Poe Jr. suffering in the hands of his tormentors. He said: “That story was created by a film distributor in Escolta in the early 1960’s. He got that idea from an old Hollywood magazine about an article on John Wayne, then the box office king in America. The article told of a hillbilly who shot the movie screen when Wayne was cornered by Indians about to kill him. It was an old tale often repeated in Hollywood.

“In the 1960’s, FPJ was emerging as one of the most bankable action stars and the film distributor was making a lot of money booking FPJ movies in the provinces. (But there were other bankable action stars in those days such as Zaldy Zshornack, Romeo Vasquez and Bernard Bonnin.)

“The distributor making money on FPJ films was bragging that FPJ was the real ‘action king,’ because his movies were making more money. Actually he was just bragging to get bigger deposits from theater owners in the provinces.

“It was a practice then for provincial theater owners to make deposits to be sure that the movie, especially black and white movies that had only one copy, would be shown in their theaters.

“The deposits varied. If the movie was a hit in Manila, they gave large deposits. But even if the movie was not a hit in Manila, it could still be a blockbuster in the province.

“For this reason, the distributor of FPJ movies concocted the story that Muslims in Mindanao shot at the screen when FPJ was in danger.”