Eddie Gil
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Eduardo ("Eddie") Gil is a Filipino businessman and politician. He was disqualified from contesting the 2004 presidential election.
Widely regarded as a somewhat doubtful character, Gil was known in the 1980s as a strong supporter of the then-President, Ferdinand Marcos. He claims to be an international banker and a billionaire, and declared that if elected President, he would make every Filipino a millionaire within one hundred days, and that he would pay off his country's entire national debt (trillions of pesos) from his own pocket. This promise attracted a great deal of ridicule, especially when it was revealed that a check he had issued to pay a hotel bill during a campaign sortie had bounced.
The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) originally affirmed Gil's candidacy. Rival candidate Eduardo Villanueva filed a petition with the COMELEC to have Gil disqualified, on the basis of his being a nuisance candidate, his inability to mount a nationwide campaign, and that because of what Villanueva considered to be Gil's motive of confusing voters by virtue of the similarity of their names.
Eddie Gil is currently working as a recording artist and actor which is why many people believe that his only motive for contesting the Philippines' 2004 elections was to become widely known. He is also known as the William Hung of the Philippines, but many see no similarity between them whatsoever.
Recently, he will have an upcoming movie entitled "Itim" (Black). He boasts that the movie will have special effects that will rival The Matrix but it is, as of yet, not confirmed. Last year, he had a concert that promoted his single "Pelukang Itim" (Black Wig). He boasted that the concert grounds will be "overflowing with people" but on the day itself, only 10% of the grounds were occupied.