Dynastic duo signifies 'revival of reformism'

Forging a formidable new partnership that combines the traditions and resources of two leading Philippine dynasties, Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II on Monday formally accepted the offer of Liberal Party standard bearer Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III to be the party's vice presidential bet in the 2010 national elections. Roxas, who abandoned his own presidential bid to give way to Aquino, made the announcement at the historic Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City, on the 37th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law. The location and atmosphere of the event were part of a conscious effort by his campaign to associate Roxas, 52, with the so-called "Cory magic" that has drastically changed the dynamics of the presidential race and pushed the son of the late former president Cory Aquino, Noynoy Aquino, to the top of the surveys. Mrs. Aquino took her oath of office at the same venue on February 25, 1986. Many of the standing-room-only crowd seemed to be composed of aging anti-Marcos activists or die-hard Cory loyalists and their children, nearly all of them clad in yellow. Beaming in a seat beside Roxas, Noynoy was conspicuously still in mourning-black, with a yellow ribbon pinned to his chest.

"Taos-puso ko pong tinatanggap ang responsibilidad na maging kabalikat ni Noynoy sa kanyang laban para sa pagbabago. Taos-puso at buong pakumbaba ko pong tinatanggap ang maging katambal ni Noynoy Aquino (I wholeheartedly accept the responsibility to be Noynoy's companion in his fight for change. I wholeheartedly and humbly accept the offer to be Noynoy Aquino's running mate)," Roxas said, his statement met with enthusiastic applause and the occasional cheers of "Mabuhay si Mar! Mabuhay si Noynoy!" "This fight is not just about Noynoy and me. It’s bigger than the two of us. It’s bigger than the Liberal Party. It’s bigger than anyone of us. It is about our collective thirst for change. It is about finally overcoming those who want to continue the tayu-tayo system, the horse-trading, the greed, the self-interest, the transactional politics that has been the biggest roadblock to progress and prosperity for all," he added. Roxas said he and Aquino were up against "forces who will fight tooth and nail, fair and unfair, legal and illegal," but that he is "honored to join Noynoy in this field of battle." "To all of us who are fighting alongside him, make no mistake about it: We will not back down from this fight, not now, not ever," he stressed. "Revival of reformism" Aquino, who introduced Roxas at the event, credited his friend and fellow senator with making their tandem possible. "Ang sakripisyo po niya ang nagbigay daan sa paglunsad at pagpapatupad ng isang pambansang kilusan ng ating mga kababayan na talagang uhaw sa panunumbalik ng isang disente at malinis na pamamahala sa ating gobyerno (His sacrifice gave way to the rise of a nationwide movement of Filipinos thirsty for the return of a decent and clean government)," Aquino said in his opening remarks. In an earlier interview at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City, Senator Aquino said that the LP chose September 21 as the date of Roxas' announcement because of its significance to the party. "Ito ang nag-shape kung sino kami ngayon, yung eksperyensyang yan, may significance doon, and again nung pinaabot sa atin ni Senator Mar na ready na siya e bakit pa natin patatagalin (That was what shaped who we are today, that experience was significant. When Senator Mar told me he was ready, I said, why prolong the announcement)?" he said. The two senators' fathers, the late senators Gerardo Roxas and Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., were both LP leaders who fought Martial Law. But the era that the event most evoked was the anti-Marcos struggle that followed Ninoy Aquino's assassination in August 1983 and culminated in the people power uprising that ended the Marcos regime in February 1986. One of those who witnessed and studied that struggle was political scientist Dr. Mark Thompson of the University of Erlangen in Germany, who was also at Club Filipino for Mar Roxas' announcement. He believes the rise of Noynoy and his team-up with the technocratic Roxas signifies the "revival of reformism." "This re-establishes the electoral connection between Philippine dynasties with the masa, versus the populism exemplified by Erap, with its rich-poor dynamic. Now it's good government versus evil again," Thompson said, recalling the campaign of Cory Aquino in 1985-86. Among others present at the Club Filipino announcement were Mar's mother Judy Araneta-Roxas, LP chairman Franklin Drilon, Senator Rodolfo Biazon, Senator Aquino's sister Viel Aquino-Dee, LP stalwart Butch Abad, Zambales Governor Amor Deloso, Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros, and former peace adviser Teresita Deles. A banker in New York during the Cory years "I'm very happy about it. I think they will make a wonderful team, a super team," said Mrs. Roxas, a member of the very wealthy Araneta family that developed Cubao and still owns prime commercial real estate. This wealth has enabled her son Mar to advertise heavily and run well-oiled campaigns since he entered politics in 1993. Ironically, despite the yellow motif and Cory magic that permeated his big day, Roxas was absent for most of the 1980s when Cory Aquino with her son Noynoy battled Marcos and then a series of coup attempts that nearly brought down her government. A graduate of the prestigious Wharton School of Economics in Pennsylvania, Roxas worked as an investment banker in New York for seven years and came home to set up an office for his employer Allen & Company in 1991, a year before Aquino stepped down. He ran for Congress two years later and won, representing the small province of Capiz and taking the place of his older brother Dinggoy who had died of cancer. Senator Francis Pangilinan, whose vice presidential aspirations had threatened to divide the Liberal Party, was also at Club Filipino to express his support for the LP tandem. Valenzuela City Councilor Shalani Soledad, Noynoy's girlfriend, was not around. Mar's fiancee, ABS-CBN broadcaster Korina Sanchez, was also absent from the event. All set for Aquino-Roxas campaign In an earlier interview over GMA News' Unang Hirit, Drilon said the LP is all set for the Aquino-Roxas campaign. Drilon said Mar's announcement did not violate the Omnibus Election Code, which prohibits any political party from holding “political conventions or meetings to nominate its official candidates earlier than the period fixed in" the law. According to the Comelec calendar, the schedule for holding political conventions to nominate official party candidates for all elective positions in the 2010 elections will start on Oct. 21, 2009 and end on Nov. 19, 2009. "Wala kaming nilabag dahil wala namang botohan. Sila lang naman ang kandidato namin sa partido kaya hindi kailangan ng convention. Ina-announce lang namin ang kanilang kandidatura (We are not in violation of the election law because there was no voting. They are the only candidates in the party so we need no convention. We just announced their candidacy)," the former Senate President said. Drilon said the LP’s campaign will center on issues, and not on personalities. He added that they are still forging alliances in order to complete the party's senatorial line-up. "Alam mo [ang] realities sa politics, maraming alliances ang mangyayari dyan. Sa Senado talagang magkakaroon ng alliances, mahirap naman magbuo ng puro Liberal sa linyada ng senador kaya may mga alliances kami diyan (In reality, there will be a lot of alliances in politics. For the Senate we'll have a lot of alliances because it will be difficult to complete a senatorial slate full of Liberals)," he said. Mar was being groomed as LP standard bearer until the clamor for Noynoy to run for the highest elective post started after the death of the latter’s mother, former President Aquino. Mrs. Aquino died on August 1 after more than a year of battling colon cancer. "Mar sensed the mood of the nation before any of us did," said a Roxas campaign strategist who declined to be identified. "He knew it would divide the party if he ran for president. So he gave up his presidential ambitions because it was the right and smart thing to do, even before Noynoy had made up his mind. There was no transaction here." Noynoy announced his presidential plans on September 9, more than a week after Mar gave way, following a spiritual retreat and consultation with his four sisters, some of whom reportedly had misgivings about another Aquino presidency. Presidential adviser for political affairs Gabriel Claudio said Sunday that Malacañang knew Roxas would settle for a vice presidential bid when he backed out of the presidential race last month. Claudio wished the tandem well, saying Aquino and Roxas "have a natural synergy of political beliefs and ideology because of their friendship and shared party loyalties."- GMANews.TV