After failing to become Vice President in 2010 and losing to Rodrigo Duterte in 2016, Manuel “Mar” Roxas II is once again gunning for a seat in the Philippine Senate.
This was made official earlier today when he filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) before the Commission on Elections at its office in Intramuros, Manila. He will be running for senator under the Liberal Party in next year’s midterm elections, reports state.
Roxas has been relatively quiet, politically-speaking, ever since he came in second to Duterte in 2016 but, perhaps learning from the success of heavy Facebook campaigning, he took to the social media platform to announce his decision to run.
In an over 4-minute video posted yesterday, the senatorial hopeful said that he struggled to make this decision but eventually decided to run and “…won’t quit on our country.”
“I’m not perfect, I made mistakes, I had shortcomings. But I can say that I gave my full self to the country and to others,” he said in English and Filipino.
In 2016, Roxas ran for President under the Liberal Party with the support of then-President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. Roxas was also Aquino’s running mate in 2010 but failed to land that post too.
Roxas is the son of late Senator Gerardo Roxas and the grandson of former President Manuel Roxas. He was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and has served as senator and secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
While his background would make it seem like he was a shoe-in for the presidency, his resume and upbringing actually proved to be a negative thing for many Filipinos.
Some thought he was elitist while others blamed him for the previous administration’s shortcomings like its slow response to Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.
The filing of COCs for next year’s midterm elections started on Thursday and will continue until tomorrow.
