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| Phyllis Haver (1899 - 1960) - Photo via The Golden Age of Hollywood |
(May Dagdag-Bawas din sa edad).
Just
like in the canvassing of votes - Philippine-style - during pre-PICOS elections,
there’s also something called subtracting time (‘shaving’) from and adding time
(‘padding’) to one’s age resorted to by some actors, actresses, athletes and some
politicians. In the case of actors and actresses, talent managers do it pala for
their protégées so they get hired for roles and for publicity purposes. The
deed is done through repeated oral or written statements, and in the case of certain
local politicians, it strangely appears to have even inspired family members of
original perpetrators to perpetuate the same practice.
Recently
in the local entertainment industry, a winner in a television reality show pegged
his age at 24 when in truth he shaved that age by five years, a fact ignored,
for whatever reason, by producers of the show.
In
the sports business, a scandal was created some years ago when the Little
League World Series stripped Zamboanga City of its title. It was discovered
after the games that some of its players were too old for Little League, an incident
that caused furor and outrage to many Filipinos. To avoid a repetition of the said
fraud, teams joining now must have a copy of birth certificates, with documents
being checked again as teams advance in the tournament.
Age
falsification is similarly resorted to by some local politicians for propaganda
purposes and for other reasons only known to them. In his book “Stalin”, (oh,
him again), historian E. Radzinski argues that the year of birth of Joseph
Stalin was changed from 1878 to 1879 to have a nationwide celebration of his 50th
birthday. The incorrect date of December 21, 1879 was since printed in many publications
during Stalin’s reign, and remains as one of the most widely reported incorrect
dates of birth. Eva Peron had her birth certificate altered after becoming
First Lady of Argentina, making herself three years younger. Read.
A
local Marinduque candidate for the 2013 Elections has apparently followed suit
and deliberately shaved five years, thinking, in all likelihood, that the poor, exploited electorate
could hardly care anyway for such habitual acts of lying and deception.
