"Daang Matuwid" is hurting Mar and Leni
There is no debating that Mar Roxas is perhaps the most decent among the five presidential candidates. He is well-mannered, cultured, and a son of a "buena familia," an ilustrado and an haciendero, with such illustrious names as Roxas and Araneta. In fact, the name "Mar" is not really a nickname. It is actually an acronym for Manuel Araneta Roxas, a landed oligarch from Negros Oriental and Capiz. The original MAR was Manuel Acuna Roxas, the president who won over our own grand old man, Sergio Osmeña Sr., by the slimmest plurality in all Philippine presidential elections.
Mar Roxas is a decent man. He does not curse like Mayor Digong Duterte. His character and integrity are impeccable. He does not have any cloud of doubt due to a string of graft cases not like (allegedly) Vice President Jejomar Binay. Mar's citizenship and residency are beyond any shadow of doubt. He has never renounced his Philippine citizenship, nor ever used a US passport as Senator Grace Poe has reportedly done. A number of times, we were told. Mar's wife and son are Filipinos. Grace's are Americans. Mar's health conditions are never questioned, not like that of Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Yes, Mar might have been the best. But he has a heavy baggage on his back.
By often repeating that mantra "Daang Matuwid," Mar Roxas is causing a lot of apprehensions among the voters that he will just continue the horrendous traffic problem, that he would leave alone a close friend to lead the worst airport in the world, which is indubitably mismanaged, neglected, and allowed to deteriorate. By adopting that slogan, Mar is losing support every time he utters those words. For that slogan also means that incompetent classmates and shooting buddies will be appointed, and no cases will be filed against close political and personal allies in government.
That political slogan "Daang Matuwid" also means that there shall be compartmentalized administration of justice. It means that political enemies will be persecuted, and inundated with all sorts of charges, while friends and buddies will be spared. It also means that drugs will be allowed to be manufactured inside the air-conditioned rooms of favored convicts right within the hallowed confines of the New Bilibid Prison, right before the noses of prison officials and personnel. "Daang Matuwid" means that DILG secretaries will be bypassed and the President shall micro-manage police operations that may turn out to be another disaster, claiming the lives of hapless police officers and men.
"Daang Matuwid" also means that foreign aids for victims of natural disasters to the tune of billions of dollars in cash and in kind will remain unaudited and unaccounted for. Rice and canned goods shall be left rotting in government rented warehouses while the poor are suffering in hunger and neglect. It also means that the Pantawid Pamilya Program will be used to advance the political objectives of incumbents LPs and those who are voting opposition shall be left out. This government claims economic progress that is not inclusive. Only the taipans, the tycoons, and the oligarchy are devouring the fruits of high economic growth. "Daang Matuwid" is thus Mar Roxas' kiss of death. It is Mar's and Leny's Achilles heel.
The proper thing for Mar Roxas to do is to assert his own agenda, and not just mouth PNoy's much maligned sloganeering. He is being hurt by his constant and hackneyed mimicking of Aquino's outmoded mantra. It is a pity that such a decent man like him will most likely lose, not really because he is a bad candidate, but rather due to his close identification with a failed administration, which overpromised and under-delivered.