The ‘masa’-fication of Mar Roxas

The gathering of the Liberal Party faithful last October 3 to announce its vice presidential bet gave the public a chance to see the stark difference between Mar Roxas and his rivals in the 2016 derby. 

Unlike his two male rivals, Vice President Jejomar Binay and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Roxas was visibly uncomfortable at the podium and microphone. He is not a natural. He has no communication savvy and is not naturally gifted at connecting to the hearts of his audiences.

That discomfort is aggravated when Roxas is fed with campaign scripts that do not match his authentic personality and character.

His communication team, reportedly led by Palace Spokesman Edwin Lacierda, appears to be desperately packaging him into another rendition of “Mr. Palengke,” not so much visually, but more with the words he is made to mouth.

In introducing Leni Robredo, Roxas was made to describe her as “swak na swak” and “sagad to the bones,” ostensibly a reference to a fried-chicken commercial.

It sounded like a vain attempt to connect this scion of two of the country’s richest clans to the masses. Just like the rest of that speech, the spiel was met with lukewarm, superficial applause. It did not create a magical moment that could have kicked off a bandwagon for a winning tandem.

Instead, the attempt apparently fell flat on its face the way the visual depiction of Roxas as the champion of the palengke was met with ridicule. It will be recalled that many were quick to point out that Roxas’ palengke is Farmers’ Market where the rich go to buy fresh seafood priced at levels that most ordinary Filipinos cannot afford.

The Lacierda team should have been advised that “sagad to the bones” refers to a fried chicken brand that does not cater to the masses. The restaurant which offers that fried chicken brand is prominently housed in the Araneta-Roxas clan-owned Gateway complex.

The rich and the middle go there to eat. The masses don’t. Like Roxas, that fried chicken brand appears to be beyond their reach.

So, they are recreating Roxas’ palengke image again—this time, not with awkward visual images of the man like that ill-fated padyak depiction.

The Lacierda team merely underscores to the public that the Roxas being presented to them is not the authentic one.

Roxas is visibly not comfortable with the continuing attempt to repackage him into someone acceptable to the masses. Rightly so. This is not who he is naturally.

The authentic Roxas is the one that people saw in the YouTube video scolding the local officials of Tacloban City in the aftermath of Supertyphoon Yolanda—the man who is capable of displaying scorn and disdain for people he does not like and who cannot measure up to his intellectual standards.

The authentic Roxas is not capable of showing affection. He underscored that in the very same Club Filipino gathering. That event took place on the eve of his wife Korina’s birthday. She was present. Roxas made no reference to that milestone in his wife’s life. He almost missed recognizing her and when he did so, it was almost in passing and appeared forced.

Also seated in that crowd was Judy Araneta-Roxas. He had a two-second acknowledgment of her and addressed her simply with a very American rendition of “mom.”

There was no affection. That appears to be the real him—incapable of connecting to others, even to those closest to him in life.

This will be a big minus. The Filipino masa values connection and affection. They want a leader who is capable of loving them. Rightly or wrongly, the late President Ramon Magsaysay remains the best representation of the national leader the Filipino masa wants.

Roxas allows nothing auth entically him to go on full display. Thanks to advisers like the Lacierda team, he goes out of his way to portray what he is not.

The only authentic aspect of Roxas people see is the intellectual part of himself—the outstanding product of his American and Jesuit education.

In so doing, he sends out the message that he is a cut above the rest intellectually. It also tells others that it is difficult to measure up to his intellectual standards.

That could win a lot of admiration. But not affection.

Roxas is apparently aware of that. This could be why he appears to be obliging the tactics of his packaging team. And this is why we see his great discomfort at the continuing attempt to “massify” him.

Sadly, the discomfort appears to be “sagad to the bones.”