Bahay Ni Juan

Mar Roxas Vows to Bring LP to Victory in 2010

Monday, 26 November 2007

Sen. Mar Roxas today assumed the presidency of the Liberal Party, in a huge event at the historic Club Filipino that had all the elements of a presidential campaign. He vowed to lead the party to “victory in 2010.”

Speaking to a jampacked crowd of more than a thousand, the grandson of former Philippine president and LP founder Manuel Roxas said he envisioned a party “attuned to the modes and methods of modern times” but attached to its core values on good and honest public service.

“I accept the challenge of building up a strong, united and modern LP—sharpening its purpose, rededicating it to its founding principles, and leading it to victory in 20120,” the 50-year-old Roxas said after formally assuming the post from former Senate President Franklin M. Drilon.

For the occasion, Roxas used the slogan “Oras Na” (It’s time), declaring “it is time for change, a time for renewal” and that “repeating old cures will no longer obliterate diseases.” The senator, who is preparing for a presidential run in 2010, told partymates that “business as usual is simply not acceptable” in an organization that seeks “transformational change.”

In his speech, Roxas took a clear stand against the government on critical issues. “You cannot be a part of the beloved Liberal Party of Ninoy, Ka Jovy, Ka Bobby Tañada, Ka Raul, and not form an opinion about the killings of journalists and activists and widespread graft and corruption aided and abetted by the abuse and misuse of executive privilege.” (read Roxas’ speech here)

The event was clearly a test-run for Roxas’s campaign, and the crowd was a mixed bag of political clans, businessmen, activists, and local officials. By the end of his speech, the crowd cheered and his mother Judy Araneta Roxas cried.

LP stalwarts Jovito Salonga and Wigberto Tañada joined the event, with Salonga swearing in Roxas. The Garcias, Osmeñas, and the Romualdezes of the Visayas were there. Former President Corazon Aquino graced the affair (her husband the late Benigno Aquino Jr. was an LP stalwart), and so did local executives such as Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo, Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca, South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Fuentes, and former Datu Paglas Mayor Toto Paglas. Busloads of local officials and residents from Iloilo and Panay came. Also spotted were opposition spokesperson Adel Tamano and former Arroyo Cabinet members who now form the Black and White Movement led by former social welfare secretary Dinky Soliman. Noticeably absent was Roxas’ girlfriend, ABS-CBN anchor and special correspondent Korina Sanchez.

Hours before the event—which was really the meeting of the national executive committee of the party—talks were held between the LP leadership and a breakaway faction led by Environment Secretary Lito Atienza. While the Supreme Court has upheld the leadership of Drilon (and now Roxas) as the legitimate LP representative, Atienza and his allies continue to distance themselves from the party leadership.

In today’s meeting between Atienza’s representatives and the LP leadership, the former reportedly said that they were all supporting Roxas’s presidential bid but that they would want Atienza to assume the position of party chair. That position, however, has reportedly been promised to Drilon already.

Roxas said he was open to calls for unity but “not at the expense of its independence.”

Atienza and his allies are loyal to President Arroyo. It is this loyalty that caused a split in the party—its 7th in its 61-year history—because Drilon and the rest chose to leave the ruling coalition after the “Hello, Garci” scandal involving no less than President Arroyo, whose father, the late president Diosdado Macapagal, was a Liberal.

Related Topics: 

Related Topics:

Cheaper Medicines Bill Petition

The Race for the 2010 Presidential Elections is On

Why invest in the Philippines? by Sec. Mar Roxas II

Soap-to-nuts style from Mar Roxas

Transcript of ambush interview with Senator Mar Roxas

Labor Slams Mar Roxas

ROXAS ON LIBERAL PARTY? NEXT PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT?