BULACAN, Philippines – As the Philippines commemorates a revolution that toppled a dictator, the standard-bearer of the ruling Liberal Party (LP) cautioned against making a "U-turn" back to the ways of the past.
"Tatlumpung taon na yung nakalipas noong pinatalsik natin ang diktaturyang umapak, yumapak sa ating kinabukasan. Pinatalsik natin noon dahil tama lang na patalsikin ang isang nagnanakaw, nagsisinungaling at talagang tiwali at hindi tumutulong sa atin," Manuel "Mar" Roxas II told a crowd of supporters during a campaign rally in Malolos in this province on Tuesday, February 23.
(Thirty years ago, we removed a dictatorship that trampled on our future. We unseated it because it was only right to remove a thief, a liar, and corrupt officials who did not help us.)
Roxas added, "Sa 2016, dumating tayo ngayon sa isang sangandaan. Nakita natin ang konkretong mga biyayang pinarating sa ating mga komunidad… Kaya ang tanong sa inyo, tanong sa buong bansa: Ngayon na naka-arangkada na ating sasakyan, mabilis na ang takbo ng kaunlaran sa ating bansa, ano ang gagawin natin? Liliko pa ba tayo? Mag-U-U-turn pa ba tayo o itutuloy natin tungo sa isang magandang bukas dahil nakita na natin na malayo na ang narating natin, marami na ang mga natagumpayan natin?"
(In 2016, we reach another fork in the road. We've seen the concrete programs we've brought to our communities. So my question to you now, the question for the entire country: Now that the car we're riding on is full-speed, when our country is progressing, what do we do? Do we make a U-turn? Or do we move forward towards a brighter future because we've seen how far we've come, we've had many victories?)
On Thursday, February 25, the country will commemorate the 30th year since Ferdinand Marcos was ousted from Malacañang after almost two decades in power. The martial law years are considered among the darkest in Philippine history. The Marcoses were charged with plundering government coffers while silencing dissenting voices. (READ: Torture during martial law: Worse than death)
Roxas' ties to martial law are personal. His father, the late senator Gerardo Roxas, was a stalwart of the LP who led efforts against the dictatorship. His mother, Judy Araneta-Roxas, was among the many wounded during the 1971 bombing of an LP rally in Plaza Miranda, which was initially blamed on Marcos but which the communist movement later claimed to have been its handiwork. (READ: What were the presidential bets doing in 1986?)
The revolution is also personal to LP chairman President Benigno Aquino III. His father, the late senator Benigno Aquino III, was jailed, forced to go on exile and eventually killed under the Marcos regime. It was his mother, the late Cory Aquino, who was elected president during the snap elections of 1986.
The Marcos family has since regained their political stature, with many members occupying elective posts. The son and namesake of the late dictator, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr, is running for vice president. (READ: Bongbong: EDSA disrupted Marcos' plans for PH)
Will Bulacan go for Roxas?
Expounding on driving as a metaphor for the presidency, Roxas added: "Pipili ba tayo ng isang nagmamaneho ng may kaso sa pagnanakaw? Pipili ba tayo ng isang nagmamaneho na mainit ang ulo, na baka magka-aksidente? Pipili ba tayo ng ngayon palang natuto magmaneho?"
(Do we choose somehow who is accused of stealing? Do we choose someone who is hot-headed and could cause an accident? Do we choose someone who's only learned to drive just now?)
It was a dig at his closest rivals for the presidency – Vice President Jejomar Binay, who's been hounded by corruption allegations; Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, known and criticized for his tough stand against criminals; and Senator Grace Poe, a neophyte legislator whom Roxas once asked to be his running mate.
Driving as a metaphor for the presidency and the 2016 elections has been a favorite of Roxas, who made the same spiel during a presidential debate in Cagayan de Oro City.
Roxas is hoping to win in this vote-rich province of Bulacan, home to over 1.2 million registered voters. But the province, governed by the LP’s Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado, has not always been kind to Roxas.
He lost here in 2010, when he ran for vice president. Roxas got 408,011 votes compared to Binay’s 559,241 votes. Aquino, who traces his roots to Bulacan through the Cojuangcos, won in the province during the same year, getting over 433,000 votes.
The President is seen by the LP as a game-changer in 2016. With approval ratings higher than that of his predecessors, his endorsement is hoped to boost both Roxas and vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo’s chances in the May 2016 polls.
Aquino poured on the praises for Roxas during his speech, nothing how his anointed candidate did well during the recent presidential debate. "Nakita niyo naman, sa lahat po, siya talaga ang pinaka-may 'K': May katalinuhan, may katapatan, may karanasan, may kakayahan, at isama pa natin, may Korina pa," he said, referring to Roxas' wife broadcaster Korina Sanchez.
(You see, he has the most 'K' among the presidential candidates: he is smart, he is honest, he has experience, he has the ability, and of course, he has Korina.)
"Mapagtutulong-tulungan 'yan. Lahat ng naniniwala sa Daang Matuwid, mapagtutulungan 'yan (We’ll work together on that. Everyone who believes in Daang Matuwid, we'll work together on that)," said Bulacan Vice Governor Daniel Fernando, when asked about the chances of the LP tandem in his province. – Rappler.com