An Encounter With Mar Roxas

Further to my earlier post, the encounter with Filipino bloggers Senator Mar Roxas had yesterday gave me the distinct sense that this was a different Mar from the one this writer met, and had the honor to work with, when he was secretary of trade and industry serving President Arroyo in the immediate post EDSA 2 years.

Here was a man still cautious with his words but certainly more certain about his conviction that reforms must come now and be made to grow deep roots if the Philippines is to get out of the ecomic, and political, morass it is stuck in.

Here was a Mar Roxas ready to seek the highest office of the land wearing not rose-colored glasses but with eyes that have seen and continues to see the mass povery that stalks the land, even as there are Filipinos who can afford to buy, and drive Benzes and gas-guzzling Ford Expeditions for 3 to 5M a pop.

Truly “a statement about the wide gap between rich and poor Filipinos.” which he said makes him ask “just what does GMA have to show for the yearly national budget of one trillion pesos her government has spent since 2001 since she first took power?”

Through the more that two hours he spent yesterday with the bloggers, Mar showed himself to be a ‘listening’ politician, taking notes as he heard how Filipinos are harnessing blogging to share information and distill their aspirations as a people, regardless of where the politicians are taking Philippine society.

To be sure Mar will have to bring his message out more and he apparently recognizes the awesome power of new media.

Mar is launching his own blog. His handlers promise the blog will try to remain current and responsive with Mar himself, time permitting, doing the actual posts along with special contributors who reflect his thinking and positions on issues.

And as Mar, we hope, learned from yesterday’s session, he will come under closer scutiny once he joins blogosphere with his eye on 2010.

(Among those present at the session with Senator Mar were contributors from FilipinoVoices.com and ScoutAreaOnline (represented by senior writer Paolo Florenda) plus personalities like Ellen Tordesillas, Manuel Quezon III, Ricky Carandang, Noemi Dado, Gail Villanueva, Lester Cavestany, and the-jester-in-exile.)