Politics is a game of free-for-all. For Ara Mina, however, a disastrous Jan. 12 interview on Mo Twister’s ANC show, “In My Opinion” (IMO), proved troublesome as it has now re-surfaced on YouTube.

This prompted the sexy actress-turned-political aspirant to question the timing of the video going viral, especially since she is reportedly leading the race for councilor in Quezon City.

In the show’s “lightning round” portion, Ara was asked to answer “for” or “against” to a handful of topics—mostly political and sensitive, as they turned out—that Mo Twister would throw at her. As the segment title suggests, subjects aren’t given much time to think about their answers.

Ara, for her part, did manage to breeze through some topics: anti-pornography law (against), Republic Health Bill (for), Charter Change (“Um… against”), and legalizing marijuana (though her seemingly unsure answer was in a form of a question: “Um… Against?”).

On gay marriage, she replied, “I have lots of gay friends but… against.” A clever reply, indeed, if you think about how the church and other religious groups in this predominantly Catholic country might react if she had answered otherwise.

But the actress seemed to fumble in responding to others.

On the VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement): “Parang gini-grill mo ako rito, ah,” she laughs.

When asked if she was for Noynoy Aquino for president, she began with, “Lahat naman ano eh…” When her answer seemed to trail off, Mo Twister asked her if she had a presidential bet already, to which she answered: “I’m running independent.”

On the topic of pre-marital sex, the actress laughs before she replied “against.” Mo then brought up her being a sexy star, who had had quite the sexually explicit roles that seemed to be “promoting” it.

Ara says she doesn’t regret any such previous roles because, “It’s just a role,” defending her position by saying: “If you’ll notice kasi, ‘di ba ‘yong mga R18? So hindi allowed din ‘yong mga ano [kids below 18]… so hindi nila napapanood…”

But perhaps the most damning of her replies had been to the first topic thrown at her: private armies.

When she responded, “for,” Mo Twister asked her to elaborate on her rather controversial reply in the light of the recent situation in Maguindanao.

Ara explained that she wouldn’t answer a previous question from Mo regarding Maguindanao since she hadn’t been able to keep abreast of the news about it and would rather not comment without knowing “the real story.”

A caller, identified as Melody Luzambe, was then allowed to react to her statement on the air. “To me, it shows that many people in the entertainment field do not follow the news, like ‘yong sa Maguindanao issue. It is very disappointing that Ara Mina said she has not been following the news,” the caller said, as the camera switched back to Ara.

“This has been, you know, for almost one month…everyday nasa newspaper, nasa TV… All the pictures…. The massacre… How can somebody like her, who I thought is an intelligent actress, not be following… you don’t really have to follow everyday.”

Ara answered, “I’ll be honest, every time I watch the news, nakaka-depress eh.” While she says she does want to know what is going on in the country, having to see reports on “patayan diyan, patayan dito” brings her down.

Mo Twister reminded her, “But the fact that you are running for public office…”

Her reply was as carefully worded as she could put it: that she always goes out and “hindi ko afford manood lagi ng news.” But she says she gets news updates on text messages and sometimes gets to read the papers.

“Pero alam ko ‘yong nangyari. Hindi ko lang alam ‘yong sobrang details sa kanila [in Maguindanao] kasi meron din akong inaasikaso sa disctrict ko.”

In her Facebook account, Ara Mina defended herself in the interview, saying she wasn’t used to answering rapid-fire questions about politics.

She also reportedly reiterated her position about private armies, rhetorically asking if it was really realistic to remove them when most politicians are afraid of being ambushed or killed.

But by way of damage control, Ara says she will fix whatever negative shadow this casts on her by continuing to work hard and studying more. She tells ABS-CBN News that she knows she will learn so much more and chooses to remain humble despite attempts to mar her image.

“Ipinapasa-Diyos ko na lang,” she tells the network.