Herbert Bautista and Isko Moreno getting ready for the bigger roles

From the Manila Bulletin (Jan 28): Herbert Bautista and Isko Moreno getting ready for the bigger roles

They have show business blood in their veins. And in politics, their lives also looked like they were intertwined.

Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista is “Bistek” to most, while former Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno will always be the Tondo, Manila street scavenger who would rise to become one of the hottest matinee idols of the 90s.

Herbert Bautista (left) and Isko Moreno (right) CREDIT: Rocky Nazareno / Manila Bulletin

 

Not far apart in age – Bautista is 48 while Moreno is 42, both served distinctly as councilors of their respective cities for years, with enough sterling records that allowed them to move up the so-called political hierarchy.

Bautista is on his third term as mayor, while Moreno ran roughshod over his opponents for the vice mayoral post for three elections, before an attempt for a mayoralty run in 2016 was scuttled by former President Joseph Estrada’s decision to run for another term as Manila’s Chief Executive.

Their paths would have crossed in the May 2016 senatorial race, but Bautista reportedly dropped out at the last minute and opted to run for a final term, winning by a landslide.

Spurned by Estrada, Moreno chose to gun for a Senate seat, but ran under his real name Francisco Domagoso to give honor to his father Joaquin. An “Isko Moreno” would have been a shoo-in for the Senate, but lack of name recall for a “Francisco Domagoso” did him in the final tally.



Another thing that sets them apart was that Bautista came from a middle-income family from Cubao, while Moreno was the only child of a Manila North Harbor stevedore and had to claw through Tondo’s harsh life before he was discovered by a talent manager at age 19, paving the way for his entry into show business.

Now, they have found their paths in life crossing again.

In this special feature by The Manila Bulletin, Bautista and Moreno explain their new roles in the peace negotiations being held between the Philippine Government (GRP) and the National Democratic Front (NDF) that could end 48 years of communist insurgency in the Philippines.

Bautista is an adviser of the GRP peace panel for local governments, while Moreno was personally picked by Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Founding and NDF Chief Political Consultant Chairman Jose Maria Sison as observer and consultant on the urban poor.



Bautista was in the first round of the talks in Oslo. Moreno came into the NDF circle in the second round, also in Norway.

But in the third round held here, the two actors—who have lent some showbiz flair to these talks with overseas Filipinos frequently seeking selfies with them—find themselves on opposite sides of the fence.

They’re not exactly chummy here. You don’t see them sharing a table, or engaging in small talk at the hotel lobby. Yet they’re not hostile to each other either.

They’re no fence sitters either. No junket here for them. They’ve actively participated in the discussions and debates in these talks, according to sources in the the GRP and NDF peace panels.
In our talk with Bautista and Moreno, they only have respect for each other’s advocacy.

The Manila Bulletin brings you exclusive interviews with Bautista and Moreno, and lets you decide how these matinee idols of the 90s have, indeed, come to their own – more than just the comic or matinee idol they used to be.

(Video credit:  Rocky Nazareno / Manila Bulletin)

http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/01/28/herbert-bautista-and-isko-moreno-getting-ready-for-the-bigger-roles/