Mar Roxas

Filipino politician

Manuel "Mar" Araneta Roxas II (; born May 13, 1957) is a Filipino politician who served as a Senator of the Philippines. He is the grandson and namesake of former Philippine President Manuel Roxas. He served in the Cabinet of the Philippines as Secretary of the Interior and Local Government from 2012 to 2015. Previously, he was the Secretary of Trade and Industry from 2000 to 2003 and Secretary of Transportation and Communications from 2011 to 2012. He is the son of former Senator Gerry Roxas. After graduation from the University of Pennsylvania, Roxas worked as a banker in New York, mobilizing venture capital funds for small and medium enterprises. He served as the Representative of the 1st District of Capiz from 1993 to 2000. His stint as congressman was cut short after he was appointed by President Joseph Estrada as Secretary of Trade and Industry. He resigned from the position at the height of the Second EDSA Revolution and was later re appointed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in her new cabinet. He resigned again to run for a Senate seat in the 2004 election. Campaigning as Mr. Palengke, he was elected senator with 19 million votes, the highest ever garnered by a national candidate in any Philippine election at that time. Roxas co authored the Expanded Value Added Tax Law (E Vat). Initially one of the leading candidates in the 2010 presidential election, he slid down to become a vice presidential candidate in order to make way for fellow senator Benigno Aquino III, who won. Roxas was defeated by Makati mayor Jejomar Binay of PDP–Laban by a margin of 727,084 votes. He filed an electoral protest before the Supreme Court of the Philippines, with the Court sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. On June 7, 2011, Roxas was appointed by President Aquino as Secretary of Transportation and Communications to replace outgoing secretary Jose de Jesus, and he took office on July 4, 2011. Afterwards, on August 31, 2012, President Aquino nominated him as Secretary of the Interior and Local Government, replacing Jesse Robredo who died in a plane crash. Roxas was the standard bearer of the Liberal Party for the 2016 presidential election. He was officially endorsed by President Aquino to continue the present administration's reforms, collectively dubbed Daang Matuwid ("straight path"), which he formally accepted on July 31, 2015. On August 3, 2015, Roxas officially tendered his resignation as Secretary of the Interior and Local Government in order to focus on his presidential campaign. After placing second in the election, Roxas conceded to Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte on May 10, 2016. On October 15, 2018, Roxas announced his return to politics after a 2 year hiatus, filing his Certificate of Candidacy the next day for Senator in the 2019 Philippine Senate election. He ranked 16th in that election and failed to secure a six year term.

Roxas resigned from the House of Representatives following his appointment as Secretary of Trade and Industry under the Estrada administration in 2000, replacing Jose Pardo who was appointed Secretary of Finance. During his stint, Roxas was named as Chairman of the Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Council, a body formed with the participation of both the government and private sector to monitor the implementation of the E Commerce Law (Republic Act 8792) and programs pushing for the growth of IT enabled services. He resigned the position in November, as Estrada was under fire due to allegations of corruption.

In January 2001, just days after Estrada had been overthrown, Roxas was re appointed to the same office by newly installed President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Roxas pushed for MSME development through the SULONG (SMEs Unified Lending Opportunities for National Growth) Program, which granted almost ₱26.7 billion on low interest loans to 281,229 SMEs on its first year. From starting out with a mere 2000 jobs at the onset, the IT/BPO industry now provides over a million jobs in the Philippines. In the year 2000, Roxas was named Chairman of the Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Council. This institution, which was composed of members of the government and the private sector, was formed to monitor the implementation of the E Commerce Law (Republic Act 8792) and programs pushing for the growth of IT enabled services.

Roxas was previously in a relationship with former beauty queen Maricar Zaldarriaga, with whom he has a son, Paolo Roxas. In the April 25, 2009, episode of the ABS CBN noontime show Wowowee where Sanchez appeared as a guest co host alongside Willie Revillame, Sanchez and Roxas announced their engagement. Sanchez took a leave of absence from her duties at ABS CBN in May 2009. They married on October 27, 2009, at a ceremony at Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City, where Roxas' former running mate in the 2010 election, then Senator (later President) Benigno Aquino III, was one of the couple's primary wedding sponsors. The Manila Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philippine Madrigal Singers provided the music during the wedding. Other notable performers included Basil Valdez, Robert Seña, and Jamie Rivera. The couple owns a black labrador retriever and two schnauzer dogs.