The grower of the seeds need the sower of the seeds

On endorsing a Noynoy Aquino for President and Mar Roxas for Vice President tandem in 2010, I can only put it simply this way, "the grower of the seeds need the sower of the seeds."

To you Noy, I say: I began the campaign to sow the seeds para sa pagbabago at reporma. You must now be the one to grow them in the arena of leadership.

As Roxas said that unto Aquino, it can only mean one thing to me: Roxas should be Aquino's partner in pushing for reforms. I believe that with Roxas on Aquino's side as his Vice President, we can expect that what Roxas started will be continued by Aquino.

How will the grower of the seeds find it if not for the help of the one who sowed it.

Both men are carrying the platform of the Liberal Party, putting people first. The supreme sacrifice that Roxas did was worth commending. It doesn't mean that he's a coward. Instead, it displayed his courage. Even Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can't do it.

With Roxas endorsing Aquino for President, I am rest assured that what Roxas started will not go to waste. But Roxas hasn't indicated yet his future political plans.

What should we do?

We must convince Aquino to get Roxas as his Vice Presidential candidate and so as Roxas that we must convince him to accept the challenge. These two men are the fruits of good trees. They're the products of good leadership. They did nothing that would tarnish the good image of their forebears. Yan ang serbisyo publikong TATAK AQUINO, TATAK ROXAS!

Tuloy ang Laban! Lalaban Tayo!

Coming soon, Mar Roxas for President in 2016!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 | posted in campaign, corazon aquino, gerry roxas, manuel roxas, mar roxas, ninoy aquino, noynoy aquino, philippines, president | 0 comments [ More ]

Tuloy ang laban, Lalaban tayo!

Below is the transcript of Senator Mar Roxas' speech he delivered in Club Filipino to give way for Senator Noynoy Aquino to run for the 2010 Presidency. I will be issuing my official statement on this one later. To all Roxas' supporters, "Tuloy and laban, Lalaban tayo!"

Country above self. Bayan bago ang sarili.

Iyan ang habilin ng aking lolo, President Manuel Roxas.

Our nation is in trouble. Leadership is bankrupt. Institutions are in disarray. People are hungry.

Noynoy Aquino and I share the same outrage over the mess we are all in, the same way we share the solution-clean, honest, selfless public service.

Marami at matindi ang mga problema ng bansa. Kailangan nating ayusin. Matindi ang kalaban. We need a determined force for good far stronger than the festering evil around us.

We need to fight just as our own fathers fought dictatorship, and just as both died believing that good will conquer evil.

Noynoy and I want to make a difference, but we also know that we need to unite to achieve what we want.

I am the President of the Liberal Party.

It is within my power to preside over a potentially divisive process or to make the party a bridge for the forces of change. I choose to lead unity, not division. Bilang pinuno ng aking Partido, magdedesisyon ako.

Mahal ko ang Partido Liberal. My grandfather founded it. My father led it during the most difficult times of Martial Law. Sa harap ng peligro, sa kabila ng napakaraming tukso-hindi siya sumuko.

He inspired me-to stay the course, to fight the good fight, to pass the test of true character. To believe.

Over the weekend, Noynoy and I had many long conversations... Masinsinang usapan. We agreed: Let us forget about ourselves for a moment. This is not about us, this is about our people and our country. This is about our common dream. The dream of our parents.

But let us not remain a country of dreamers. Tama na ang pangarap. Gawin na natin, ngayon.

Today, I am announcing my support for the candidacy of Noynoy Aquino for President in 2010.

Noy has made it clear to me that he wants to carry the torch of leadership.

The passing of our beloved former President Aquino has reawakened a passion among us. I acknowledge this as fuel to bring us to the realization of our dream: Good will triumph over evil.

Ito na ang pinakamabigat na desisyon sa buhay ko. Maniwala man kayo o hindi, ginagawa ko ito para sa bayan, para sa inyo. I do this for unity in support of change. And if that means that somebody must make the sacrifice, it must be me. Ako na.

To you Noy, I say: I began the campaign to sow the seeds para sa pagbabago at reporma. You must now be the one to grow them in the arena of leadership.

Hindi kami maghihiwalay ni Noy. I will stand with him.

At sa aking mga kababayan, sa mga nagtiwala sa akin: Mahal na mahal ko po kayo. Mahal na mahal ko po ang ating bayan. Hindi rin tayo maghihiwalay. Itutuloy natin ang pagbabago sa ating bansa. Itutuloy natin ang laban para sa reporma!

Kay Noy, at sa aking mga kababayan: Country above self! Bayan bago sarili!

Hindi ko kayo pababayaan! Lalaban tayo!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 | posted in campaign, corazon aquino, gerry roxas, manuel roxas, mar roxas, ninoy aquino, noynoy aquino, philippines, president | 0 comments [ More ]

Roxas searches for life's meaning in presidency

I'm sharing to you an article with a video interview made by Inquirer to Senator Mar Roxas about his run for President in 2010. Below is the article and video made available to you by this blog:


Nothing can stop Senator Manuel Roxas II from running for President in 2010.

"What other meaning can my life have other than that?" said Roxas during a dinner with Inquirer editors and reporters in which he categorically declared that he would pursue the presidency.

"I am ready to serve. I am prepared to make it happen. I think I'm the best qualified, competence-wise, value-wise. And I owe it to my country to try what I can and fix it," said the 54-year-old senator.

Roxas, grandson of the late President Manuel Roxas, said it would be a great disservice to the Filipino people if he did not offer himself as a presidential candidate.

He said people should be given a chance to pick him, saying: "What higher calling can there be than try to fix your country?"

Roxas was not disheartened by his low ratings in the surveys--he ranked fifth in the Social Weather Stations survey of presidential preference in February.

"May 2010," he said, when asked by Inquirer editor-in-chief Letty Jimenez Magsanoc at what point he would throw in the towel and just support a candidate who would put this country back on track.

Roxas, president of the Liberal Party, said the single most important element in the presidency was trust.

"One way of analyzing the ills of the country is there's no trust -- every man for himself. People in fact trust the reverse. They don't trust that if I fell in line, and followed the rules and did what's right, then I will get ahead," he said.

"For me to get ahead, I must make suhol (give bribes), I must make singit (budget insertions) and I must find a different way. That has become the most corrosive, dangerous development--the acceptance that that's a fact of life here. If you have that, you really have a broken society," he said.

He said a system abetting corruption and "subterfuges," and where "having connections is the norm" was not a democracy.

"You just have the elite back--scratching each other and protecting each other's interest. The elite screwed us up over the last four generations."

Told that he was part of the country’s elite, he replied, "But my record, my father's record and grandfather's record speak for itself. It's not like at anytime they stole or took advantage of their position, or in any way used their position to enlarge their economic interests," said Roxas.

The influential Roxas clan owns the Araneta center and vast tracts of land in Capiz. In fact, Roxas City, provincial capital of Capiz province was named after the clan's patriarch.

"Why is it that Cubao is only doing call centers today when I was the guy who started it? Because as the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry secretary), I'm the guy who awarded eco-zone status, which means no tax and (you have) incentives. And Cubao was not allowed to apply with PEZA," said Roxas, who was concurrently chair of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority at the time.

When he was DTI chief in 2000, Roxas developed, conceptualized and wrote the PEZA rules that now grant incentives such as duty-free importation of capital equipment to IT locators and businesses.

Roxas said he didn't allow it so as not to be accused of conflict of interest.

When he saw that office spaces in Metro Manila were empty as an offshoot of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the then trade secretary harnessed the potential of the country as a global electronic-services hub.

He then launched "Make IT (information technology) Philippines" and organized the first IT-enabled services to the US which inevitably led to the biggest global industry names to invest in the country, thereby creating 400,000 jobs for call center agents and Filipino IT workers.

Roxas also said that last year, he raised $3 million from the private sector to fund a McKenzie study to take the industry to the next stage.

"The industry needs a new strategic plan that was credible... to pay for a professional business development team that will continue to keep the Philippine present in the international arena," he said.

Roxas finished economics at the Wharton School of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania in 1979. Before entering public service, he worked as an investment banker in the US.

He began his public service life in the House of Representatives in 1993.

After his congressional stint, he was appointed secretary of trade by then President Joseph Estrada, and was re-appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In 2004, he won a Senate seat with 19.5 million votes, the largest ever obtained by a candidate in any Philippine election.

Roxas said he began to see "how lucky I am" while in the US.

A Cuban friend, Roberto Goizueta, asked him about then strongman Ferdinand Marcos' decree to hold snap elections in 1986. Goizueta was then the chair of Coca-Cola Corp. based in Atlanta, Georgia.

"What are you doing? Marcos declared elections." Goizueta asked.

When Roxas retorted that he would go home and find work, the Cuban said: "I am Cuban. I have no country to go back to. You have a chance to do something for your country. It's a real story that reminds me what else is there. I've been very lucky in my life," he said.

He recalled his late father, Gerry, a former senator, teaching him about "deep sense of duty and responsibility to give back."

"You were born with a ladder. So after you climbed your ladder, don't pull it up. You have to leave it there to allow others to come up," he said, recalling Gerry's favorite metaphor for public service.

Thursday, April 30, 2009 | posted in campaign, gerry roxas, korina sanchez, manuel roxas, mar roxas, pgma, president | 0 comments [ More ]

Roxas joined nation in commemorating President Manuel Roxas' 61st death anniversary

The country observed last Wednesday the 61st death anniversary of the late President Manuel Roxas, the third and last president of the Commonwealth and the first of the Republic of the Philippines, and the grandfather of Senator Mar Roxas.

Memorial masses in memory of the late statesman were be held in selected churches all over the country while members of the Roxas clan separately lead wreath laying activities at his resting place at the North Cemetery in Manila, at Clark Air Base in Pampanga, where he died on April 15, 1948, and at Roxas City where he was born in 1892.

Manuel Roxas - a patriot, statesman, parliamentarian, orator and the first President of the Philippine Republic - was born in Capiz, Capiz (now Roxas City) on January 1, 1892 to Gerardo Roxas Sr. and Rosario Acuña. His father died from bullet wounds from Spanish Guardia Sibils seven months before he was born.

Roxas received his basic education in public schools in Capiz and Manila, graduating in 1909 with highest honors at the Manila High School (now Araullo High School). In 1913, he graduated as class valedictorian from the University of the Philippines Law School, where he was also elected president of his class and the University Student Council. That same year, he topped the first ever Philippine Bar examinations in the country with a high grade of 92 per cent.

Roxas' brilliant career in public service began in 1917 when he was appointed as member of the municipal council of Capiz. In 1919, he was elected Provincial Governor, the country's youngest governor then at the age of 27. In 1922, he was elected as Congressman representing the first district of Capiz. He was Speaker of the House for 12 consecutive years.

Recognized as "the Master Strategist" in the movement designed to bring complete independence to the Philippines, one of Roxas' greatest achievements was the enactment of the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Law in 1932. This paved the way for the enactment of the Tydings McDuffie Act, otherwise known as the Philippine Independence Act of 1934, which led to the granting of Philippine Independence on July 4, 1946 after a transition period of ten years. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention from 1934 to 1935, and was one of the "Seven Wise Men" who drafted the Philippine Constitution.

When World War II broke out, Roxas enlisted in the military service and held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the USAFFE and served aide to General Douglas MacArthur. He was later promoted to Brigadier General. He was responsible for bringing food from his native province of Capiz to feed over 20,000 soldiers and civilians in Corregidor Island.

After the war, Roxas ran for President against incumbent Sergio Osmeña. He won the election and inherited a nation that was in ruins following the Second World War. President Roxas, also known as the "Nation Builder", was the brains behind the first Philippine Master Economic Plan, the first of its kind in developing Asia, which spurred the country's return to normalcy and growth.

To date, President Roxas holds the distinction of being the only Filipino leader who has ever served and exercised authority in the capacity of House Speaker, Senate President, and President of the Republic.

In his memory, works are under way for the construction of the President Manuel Roxas Memorial Center, a historical and educational institution designed to commemorate the critical evolution of Philippine democracy and the country's reconstruction from the ruins of World War II. The edifice would rise along the historic Roxas Boulevard and would be jointly pursued by the President Manuel A. Roxas Foundation (PMARF), the National Historical Institute (NHI) and the City Government of Manila.

Thursday, April 16, 2009 | posted in manuel roxas, mar roxas, philippines, president, usa | 0 comments [ More ]