Aquino names Mar of the hour

By: DJ Yap, Marlon Ramos - 9 years ago

The man who once stepped aside for his close friend and political ally now gets his own shot at the presidency.

Swearing by the memories of President Benigno Aquino III’s parents, the late democracy icons Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino and Corazon “Cory” Aquino, an emotional Interior Secretary Mar Roxas on Friday jumped into the 2016 presidential race, declaring his readiness to take on the call to pursue the “straight path,” the Aquino administration’s reform program.

His voice cracking, Roxas vowed to honor the unsullied legacy of the President’s parents. He also thanked Mr. Aquino for the trust and support he had given him.

“I, Mar Roxas, accept the challenge of our bosses to continue, expand and fight for the straight path,’” Roxas said at the end of his 15-minute acceptance speech, drawing thunderous applause from his supporters who filled the historic Kalayaan Hall of Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City.

READ: ‘I am Mar Roxas, I accept the challenge of my bosses’ / Aquino officially endorses Mar Roxas as LP standard-bearer

It was the same hall where Roxas, then primed to seek the presidency in the 2010 elections under the banner of the Liberal Party (LP), announced that he was giving way to Mr. Aquino, whose popularity suddenly soared after the death of his mother.

This time, it was Mr. Aquino’s turn to heap praises on his friend and rally the LP’s “yellow army” behind him.

“Club Filipino brings back so many memories,” Roxas said. “This is where President Cory took her oath in 1986. As mentioned by the President, this is also where he accepted the calls for him to lead and where he said that we can now dream again. This is also where I first said ‘country first before self.’”

YOU’RE THE MAN! Amid a rain of colorful confetti, with yellow dominating of course, President Aquino raises the hand of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas whom he endorsed as standard-bearer of the Liberal Party (LP) in next year’s presidential race, in what is billed “A Gathering of Friends” by the LP held on Friday at the historic Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City. RAFFY LERMA

Great privilege

Turning to the President, Roxas said: “This is a great privilege and I promise not to besmirch their names. And I will definitely not tarnish your name.”

“With this endorsement, you are also passing the dreams and strength of the 100 million Filipinos [to me]. To my bosses, I will not betray your trust,” he said, referring to the Filipino people.

Roxas, who lost to Vice President Jejomar Binay in the 2010 elections, had apparently traded his original political color, blue, for the more popular yellow of the LP.

Roxas’ mother, the clan matriarch Judy Araneta-Roxas, was observed crying as his son recalled how the death of his brother, the late Capiz Rep. Gerardo “Dinggoy” Roxas Jr., catapulted him from being an investment banker in New York City to a national political figure.

His wife, television reader Korina Sanchez, said the President’s endorsement was a big boost to her husband’s candidacy, pointing out that Mr. Aquino was the only President whose popularity rating remained above 50 percent in the last year of his term.

READ: Korina Sanchez: Mar Roxas ‘ready to accept challenge’ / Is Korina Sanchez ready to become first lady? / Korina Sanchez tells critics: ‘Bring it on’

United by aspirations

Amid rumors that the President would endorse Sen. Grace Poe, the new front-runner in the presidential polls, Sanchez said she and her husband did not doubt Mr. Aquino’s choice of his successor.

In his speech, Roxas said he had no plans of going into politics although he came from a family of politicians. He said his brother, who succumbed to cancer in 1993, was supposed to carry on the tradition started by their grandfather, the late President Manuel Roxas, and their father, the late Sen. Gerry Roxas.

“This principle is in our blood; you have the obligation to serve. Put the collective first before your self,” he said.

“I could not turn my back on the memories of my father, Dinggoy and our grandfather. It’s my duty even though I know that my life would change… I had to do justice to what I had been taught and to what I knew in my heart was right. I accepted the responsibility,” he said.

In all the events he had attended as a government official across the country, Roxas said what struck him most was the fact that all Filipinos were “united by our aspirations.”

Filipino dream

“My dream is no different from the dream of every Filipino. I wish for the Filipino people only what I would wish for myself. After all, who are we if not our dreams?” he said.

“Who would not want a life with dignity and comfort? That you have something to eat when you’re hungry and your life will be better if you work hard,” he added.

Under Mr. Aquino’s leadership, Roxas said the government proved that it could attend to the people’s needs and fulfill its mandate.

“It’s professional, not transactional. No lucky strokes, only systematic fulfillment of our dreams,” he said. “It’s a government [that serves only] our bosses who give us the mandate and strength.”

He added: “This is what we have started on [the straight path. The President] allowed us to imagine again what the Filipino is capable of… We are a serious people who are serious with our dreams, who have just had a taste of what serious, selfless leadership can achieve.”

Roxas also lauded Mr. Aquino for the sacrifices he had made for the country, recalling the difficult times he faced in 2009 when various sectors were trying to convince him to run for President in 2010.

In one of their conversations, Roxas said he remembered the President telling him that he could not abandon the calls for him to pursue what his parents had started.

Debt to the people

“I owe the Filipino [people] as much and I owe as much to you, Mr. President. I have never met a President who sacrificed so much for the country,” he said.

“I have never met a President who has been able to inspire so much confidence. You showed us how to live by the principles we believed in and show us what we could do with our political will… and by sticking with the truth no matter how strong our enemy is,” he added.

Roxas said the straight path principle was “never about me or the President” and that it was the embodiment of the aspirations of every Filipino.

“As what the President said, it is worth fighting for. It is worth sacrificing for and dying for if need be. The straight path transcends me and [the President]; it is a Filipino ideal that has been there long before we were born, and will remain long after we are gone,” he said.

Roxas then promised not to abandon the straight path principle, saying: “I will give my all. I will not leave anything for myself. I will leave everything on the floor for this fight.”

‘Good taste’

“The President has good taste, that I can tell you,” Sanchez told reporters after the event.

“We never talked about it because every time we looked at each other’s eyes, we knew that the President would pick the right person. And we knew that Mar deserved [his support],” she said.

Continuity

“The first six years under the Aquino administration were really to make sure the road was straight. But now we make sure the boat has no holes,” said Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, the LP chair in the Bicol region.

“Everyone in the boat now must push the boat in the right direction. Of course, what Mr. Aquino did was the most difficult part. But now, we need to keep the boat going, and that involves a platform of government focusing on inclusive social policy and infrastructure,” he said.

Definitely, he said, the LP “will bank on the President.”

He said the mistake of former US Vice President Al Gore, who lost the presidency to George W. Bush in 2000, was when he tried to distance himself from outgoing President Bill Clinton.

“He thought that if he distanced himself, the problems [associated with Clinton] will disappear,” Salceda said, adding that Gore should have realized that he could not “dissociate” himself from the Clinton administration.

“But Mar has always been part of the Aquino team. He’s part of the team,” he said.

Nomination bounce

Salceda predicted a “nomination bounce” or spike for Roxas’ polling numbers now that President Aquino had endorsed him as his chosen successor.

He said an internal poll commissioned by the LP showed that Roxas had a 13-percent share of the hypothetical vote if the elections were held today.

“With the anointment of the President, there will be a spike, toward the 20s. That will make us very competitive” with the front-runners Sen. Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay,” Salceda said.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Roxas now needed to consolidate his political base, by “running after” the members of the coalition formed under the Aquino banner.

READ: Roxas a ‘very misunderstood guy’ – Belmonte

He said Roxas should “smile more,” look less serious in order to help the masses relate to him as a candidate.

“I’m very confident of him. Without question, he’s the most qualified. He has experience and integrity,” Belmonte said.

Roxas just needs to “improve his PR,” he said. “He’s lacking in that department. He looks too serious,” he added.

Most prepared

Former Sen. Wigberto Tañada described Roxas as the “most prepared to be the next President because of his knowledge, his experience, his commitment as a public servant.”

“He is clean and honest, so I think he is the most deserving of our support as our next President,” he said.

He said symbols derived from the Aquino campaign should help boost Roxas standing with the public.

“By wearing yellow, it shows the values we continue to plant in the consciousness of our people: Honesty, cleanliness, courage, firmness, and integrity,” Tañada said.

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone noted that Roxas’ campaign color used to be blue.

“But now, we’re talking about continuity, so it’s hard to change colors,” he said.

Evardone said the campaign wished to avoid a repeat of the 1992 presidential election when the candidate of the dominant party, the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, Ramon Mitra, lost to Fidel V. Ramos.

Ramos was endorsed by President Corazon Aquino, who resisted tremendous pressure from the ruling party in making her choice.

“Now, the difference is that we’re the dominant party, and the President is in the dominant party, and he has endorsed Mar,” Evardone said.

MAKE YOUR MAMA PROUD Roxas clan matriarch Judy Araneta-Roxas is a picture of maternal pride after President Aquino declared all-out support for her son, Mar Roxas, in the 2016 presidential election. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Formidable task

Sen. Ralph Recto said Roxas’ task ahead of him was formidable.

“He has to show he is better than the President and better than all other candidates. People want more. You cannot be just equal to or less than [the person you’re trying to replace]. He should be greater than President Aquino,” he said.

Recto said Roxas did not need to try to erase his image as an “elitist.” “Maybe he just needs more exposure. There’s a possibility he will endear himself to the public again,” he said.

Social activist Leah Navarro, a campaigner for Mr. Aquino and now for Roxas, said she believed the Aquino magic should do wonders for the Roxas candidacy.

‘Yellow has always been the color since 2009, since the campaign began. I think the symbolism here is not that Mar is adopting the color, but that it has been his color,” she said.

“In the fifth year of the Aquino administration, we have to show we are in the same boat. That’s the story,” she said.

Even retired policemen, including classmates of sacked Philippine National Police chief Alan Purisima, threw their support for the presidential run of Roxas.

Former PNP Deputy Director General Felipe Rojas Jr. said he believed Roxas was the most capable among the politicians who had expressed their interest to seek the presidency in the 2016 elections.

For retired PNP Director Cipriano Querol Jr., Roxas was the best man to continue the gains of President Aquino’s reform program.

Rojas and Querol were both classmates of Purisima, one of the President’s closest friends in the government who became Roxas’ critics, in the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1981.

They were among several former PNP officials who attended the President’s formal endorsement of Roxas as his successor.

Closer to the goal

“Many of us in the uniformed service want to see the continuation of the straight path of President Aquino. I think the endorsement of Secretary Roxas was a step closer toward attaining that goal,” Querol said.

While there was no formal organization, Rojas said a number of retired policemen and even military officials had voiced out their support for Roxas.

“I believe in the competence and efficiency of Secretary Roxas as a leader. He applied business principles to improve the police service,” Rojas said.

Besides Querol and Rojas, retired PNP Director Carmelo Valmoria, the former chief of the Metro Manila police, and former Chief Supt. Jojo Angan, Roxas’ former chief aide, were also seen at the event dubbed “A Gathering of Friends.”