With the photogenic senator on board as his running mate, Poe will have figured he has added even more star quality to his ticket. Senator Legarda came first in the 1998 Senate polls on the basis of her popularity from her broadcasting days.

Having seen President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo pick poll-topping Senator Noli de Castro, another popular television presenter, as her running mate, it was almost as if Poe threw down a trump to outdo an ace.

Poe's spokesman, comedian-turned-senator Vicente Sotto, claimed the Poe-Legarda team would be like a storm 'signal No 1' that would whip the Arroyo-de Castro ticket.

Ironically, Senator de Castro and Senator Legarda were once a team - as co-anchors on the same news programme.

Senator Legarda also illustrates the fickle nature of alliances in Filipino politics.

She had been in Mrs Arroyo's Lakas party, but crossed over to the opposition because she knew the party would never run an all-female ticket.

Poe is a close friend of ousted former president Joseph Estrada, another action movie star who crossed effortlessly into politics thanks to his high national profile.

Estrada is now being held in custody pending a trial on corruption charges.

Ironically, Poe's pick for a running mate played a critical part in the impeachment drama leading to Estrada's removal from office.

During Estrada's impeachment trial before the senate, Senator Legarda had voted to open a sealed envelope containing details of his bank accounts and had publicly cried when pro-Estrada judges blocked this.

With Estrada playing kingmaker to Poe and the opposition, Senator Legarda had to visit the former president in his detention cell and charm him into not blocking her candidacy.

With only four months to go before elections, Poe, who is confident of winning, has yet to disclose what he intends to do once elected president.

But one thing is clear. Besides Senator Legarda, the team being assembled around him looks very similar to Estrada's. And the Estrada legacy can be traced back to former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was overthrown by a popular revolt in 1986.

Six on Poe's slate for the Senate were senators who voted to block the opening of the sealed envelope.

Opposition camp spokesman Rod Reyes said it also intended to field Estrada's son, Jinggoy, a co-accused in his father's plunder case, and congresswoman Imee Marcos, daughter of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Even Ms Marcos has realised that a showbiz profile and political clout is needed to be an electoral success. She has prepared for the election by appearing on many television and radio shows.

The idea was to counter all negative publicity about her family with a hip image - and appeal to younger voters with little memory of her late father.

Marcos died without being tried for human rights abuses or grand theft. However, his family is being made to pay US$200 million to 10,000 human rights victims and lost $658 million held in Swiss banks by dummy firms after Swiss courts ruled it was 'ill-gotten'.

In this election, Poe's choice of a woman politician known more for her looks and fashion is reminiscent of his movie roles where he is always paired with a younger, pretty female.

Senator Legarda does not take kindly to this comparison. Yesterday, she stressed she was more than just a pretty face and did not intend to be his 'spare tyre'.

She elaborated on her own platform of government - something that her running mate sorely lacks to this day.