“L” FOR LIKE? Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas and running mate Leni Robredo flash the “L” sign at their campaign sortie in Ligao, Albay province in February 2016. RAFFY LERMA
Sipping instant coffee from a styrofoam cup, Manuel “Mar” Roxas invited some of his staff for a stroll on the beach in Ormoc City after dinner at a roast chicken joint nearby.
It was April 11, 2014, and the then interior secretary had just spent the day inspecting the temporary shelters set up for survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan), which flattened Eastern Visayas five months earlier.
“I really like the sound of waves hitting the beach. It relaxes me,” a noticeably tired Roxas told the Inquirer as he sat on the concrete breakwater.
At the time, rumors were swirling about President Aquino being set to endorse Roxas as standard-bearer of the ruling Liberal Party (LP) in the May 9 elections. Which might explain the tons of brickbats Roxas had been getting over the government’s response to Yolanda, whose trail of destruction killed over 6,000 and displaced hundreds of thousands of families.
Parrying stinging insinuations that he was using the tragedy to prop up his political ambition, Roxas said he would rather focus on his job than be distracted by the jabs thrown at him.
“The President gave me his marching orders. I intend to accomplish them,” he said then.
Going personal
Pressed to confirm the buzz of his looming anointment as Mr. Aquino’s successor, Roxas chose to go personal.
“Pardon me for saying this, but if I wanted to, my wife Korina and I could just be sailing in Venice or southern France, sipping wine and enjoying life. I could just send my son to the best schools in the world,” said the former investment banker at the New York-based Allen and Co.
“You may choose not to believe it, but I’m here not for my personal happiness,” Roxas said. “You know, you get to a point in your life when you realize there’s more to life than just enjoying personal success. That’s how I felt when I entered government service. That’s exactly how I feel now.”
Royalty
Born to the landed Araneta clan of Negros and the Roxas political royalty of Capiz, the reticent Roxas has often been perceived as elitist and a snob, a perception that his son Paolo from a previous relationship readily dismissed.
“It’s far from reality,” said Paolo Roxas. “Why would you invest 23 years of life and forego your career and big money in New York to come back and follow the footsteps of your brother (Dinggoy) in politics?” The public should realize that “there’s a cause in this line of work and commitment,” he added.
“For me, seeking higher office is a question of intentions and motivations. My father isn’t in this for personal gain or to enrich himself and his family. He’s been there during the lowest of the lows and the darkest of the dark,” the younger Roxas said.
Three deaths
Indeed, death seemed to hound Roxas’ 23-year career in public service, and marked periods of transition in his life.
The third-generation politician’s entry into politics was prompted by the untimely death of his younger brother, the late Capiz Rep. Gerardo Manuel “Dinggoy” Roxas Jr., who succumbed to colon cancer in April 1993.
The younger Roxas was said to be the politician in the family and was being primed to be the presidential candidate of the party founded by his grandfather, the late President Manuel Roxas.
His brother’s death could have paved Mar Roxas’ road to Malacañang had not another death intervened: that of former President Corazon Aquino, whose 2009 demise led to popular calls for her son, Benigno Simeon Aquino III, to continue her legacy in the 2010 elections.
Roxas readily gave way to his friend, assured that he could win the vice presidential post considering his seemingly insurmountable lead in preelection surveys. Instead, he had to endure a crushing defeat to now Vice President Jejomar Binay, who won by a slim margin of votes.
Emotional guy
After a year in hibernation, Roxas was tapped to handle the transportation portfolio. It turned out to be a brief stint as he had to take on another hat because of yet another death: that of Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, who perished in a tragic plane crash off Masbate in 2012.
Beyond the series of tragedies that have so far defined his political career, people have asked: who is Mar Roxas and does he deserve to become the 16th President of the Republic?
While ardent supporters view him as their best bet to continue President Aquino’s Daang Matuwid (straight path) platform, having been untouched by any tinge of corruption, critics consider him too uptight and lacking in charisma to be an effective leader.
“He’s actually an emotional guy,” Paolo countered. The 22-year-old recalled how Roxas once came home from the campaign trail bearing portable audio speakers for him and several cousins. Most unexpectedly, his father also gave him a poem he had written.
Stern and kind
The poem told of Roxas’ regret in missing moments he could have spent with his son and his cousins because of his campaign, and ended with words of reassurance that despite his hectic schedule, this father always had his son in mind.
“He is equal parts stern and kind,” Paolo said. “If he believes something is in my interest, he puts his foot down and makes sure I do it,” said this Yale economics student who took a leave of absence from school to help in his father’s campaign.
Three years ago, his father egged him to learn Mandarin. He was also encouraged to play golf and try outdoor camping, Paolo said.
Good heart
While he believes that his father’s unblemished record as a public official makes him the best candidate for the job, Paolo said Roxas’ passion to “make other people want to be better” sets him apart from other politicians.
Roxas’ wife, popular broadcast-journalist Korina Sanchez, described her husband’s “genuinely good heart” as the best argument for voting him to Malacañang despite his lackluster ratings in voter preference surveys.
No. 1 fan
“Forgive me for saying it, but I’m his wife and I’m his No. 1 fan,” Sanchez said with a laugh. “The errors or the missteps and miscalculations are all but human. What’s important is there’s no larceny in your heart and you have the best interest of people in mind.”
Contrary to detractors’ claims that the couple was just “lusting for power,” Sanchez said she’d rather forego a life in politics “because I would have the most blissful life without all of these.”
And no, her husband isn’t “bland and boring,” as his critics have contended, Sanchez said. “I’m a very vivacious person so I won’t be with somebody who’s very boring, believe me,” she added.
With less than two weeks before the May 9 balloting, can her husband still pull off a surprise and win?
Said Sanchez: “I think the Philippines will get the President it deserves. The leader is a reflection of the people. The leader they choose will determine who the Filipinos are.”
‘Pagbubugsay’
Roxas apparently thinks similarly, as he compared the presidency to pagbubugsay, the Visayan word for rowing a boat. “As President, you must lead the people in rowing the boat. But you should do it together and at the same time so you’d be going toward the same direction,” he said.
“We have already set out to sea. It’s up to Filipino voters if they want us to row farther together,” the presidential candidate added.