Manuel Acuna Roxas and Manuel Araneta Roxas

My heart goes out to Mar Roxas who lost to Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte in the recent presidential elections. My full admiration goes to him. He is intelligent, and a man of integrity. He has a clean record of government service because since he entered the world of politics, he has never been tainted by corruption. I presume it was a great disappointment for him to lose in the presidential election. It must have been his dream to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather who became president of the Philippines 70 years ago.

I had always voted for Mar Roxas in the past. When he run for senator, he was number one in my list. I also voted for him when he run for vice president in 2010.

Yesterday, when my family went to the National Museum of the Philippines, I was in awe as we went inside the room dedicated to MANUEL ACUNA ROXAS, the grandfather of Mar Roxas. Everything in that room is about the grandfather.

There was so much memorabilia in that room.

Manuel Acuna Roxas was born on January 1, 1892 and died at the age of 56 on April 15, 1948. He married Trinidad de Leon in 1921 and had two children, Ruby and Gerry (Mar Roxas’ father).

Manuel Acuna Roxas became a bar topnother in 1913 after graduating from the University of the Philippines College of Law. He started his political career in 1917 as a member of the municipal council, in 1919 as Governor of Capiz, member of the House of Representatives in 1921-1938, Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1922-1933, Secretary of Finance in 1941, Senate President in 1945-1946, and finally, President of the Philippines from May 28, 1946, until he died on April 15, 1948.

During World War II as an officer in the reserves, he was made liaison officer between the Commonwealth government and the United States Army Forces in the Far East headquarters of General Douglas MacArthur. He accompanied President Quezon to Corregidor where he supervised the destruction of Philippine currency to prevent its capture by the Japanese. When Quezon left Corregidor, Roxas went to Mindanao to direct the resistance there. It was prior to Quezon's departure that he was made Executive Secretary and designated as successor to the presidency in case Quezon or Vice-President Sergio Osmena were captured or killed.

Going back to Mar Roxas, I think he would be a good president if the Philippine government is not as corrupt as it is today; and if criminality is not as rampant as it is today. What the country needs now is someone who has a strong political will and who is brave enough to eradicate corruption and criminality. This is my simple analysis of the present situation in our country.

If after six years, and the now presumptive president is successful in his quest to fight corruption and improve peace and order, maybe it’s the ripe time for Mar Roxas to lead the country.