“IT’S not important how you came into this world. What’s important is what you did with your life.”
That was how Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas addressed his supposed elitist image which Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago brought up during the third and last presidential debate organized by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Pangasinan City.
“In all these years you’ve been shaped by the elitist background, don’t you think the path is too narrow for you to be the president of the Philippines?” asked Santiago.
Roxas then made an unexpected quip and quoted superhero Batman. “As Batman said, it’s not important how you came into this world. What’s important is what you did with your life and my life over the last 20 years has been a public record.”
The former Interior secretary said Santiago has been a witness to his life as a public official since they had worked together as colleagues in the Senate.
“You have been a witness to many elements in my life as we worked together as senators, fighting for cheaper medicines, fighting banks and insurance companies for pre-need protection for our people, fighting for economic opportunity through the JPEPA (Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement) and other economic treaties, fighting for what’s good and what is right,” said Roxas.
“My record stands for itself. It’s not a question of how I came into this world. It’s what I did with my life and how I dedicated my life to help my countrymen,” he said.
The Wharton-bred Roxas, who was an investment banker before he entered politics, is being criticized for his elitist image. He is a scion of the Roxas family in Capiz and the wealthy Araneta clan.