Mar Roxas’ hashtags: #AsaPaMore for Duterte, #lovelovelove for Korina

Liberal Party standard bearer Mar Roxas yesterday shed his usual stern self as he gamely matched “hashtags” to persons and things associated with his presidential run in the 2016 general elections at the hourlong “Meet the Inquirer Multimedia” forum in Makati City.

Roxas, the first presidential aspirant to attend the monthly forum of all Inquirer media platforms, also spoke about his views on the proposal to lower income taxes, the worsening traffic situation in Metro Manila and other national issues.

Asked by Inquirer Libre editor in chief Chito dela Vega to pick one from several hashtags to describe his wife, broadcaster Korina Sanchez, he chose #lovelovelove.

Liberal Party presidential candidate Mar Roxas answers questions during the Meet the Inquirer Multimedia Forum.
(INQUIRER PHOTO)

“I can go home later,” Roxas said, drawing laughter from the audience composed of executives, editors, reporters and employees of the Inquirer Group of Companies.

Told that some people would not vote for him because of his wife, he said: “I’m saddened to hear that. Korina is my wife and I love her very much. She’s with me and I’m with her.”

Under a Roxas presidency, he said Sanchez would continue her charity work which she had started as a television personality and news reader of broadcast giant ABS-CBN.

“She will be my wife. I don’t expect her to go back to her profession which she had given up for this,” Roxas said.

As to President Aquino, he selected #BFF, an acronym for “best friends forever.” “The question is, does he feel the same way?” he said with a laugh.

When somebody said he should have used #habanghair (long hair), he replied in jest: “Have pity. His hair is thinning.”

For Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who joined the race for Malacañang after blowing hot and cold, Roxas said: “#AsaPaMore.”

Loosely translated, it means “you wish.”

Roxas then chose #SecondChance for one of his opponents, Sen. Grace Poe. “That’s interesting,” he said briefly.

For several months, Mr. Aquino and the LP leadership had tried to convince Poe to run as Roxas’ running mate, but the neophyte senator opted to seek the presidency herself after recent surveys showed her leading the voters’ preference for Mr. Aquino’s successor.

As to his fiercest political rival, Vice President Jejomar Binay, he picked #PushPaMore.

When told to choose a hashtag for MRT, the problematic Metro Rail Transit elevated train system, he said: “#AchievePaMore.”

Roxas, who served as transportation secretary before the President appointed him as interior secretary in 2013, said most of the problems besetting the country, such as traffic congestion, were caused by economic development.

“We’re in a virtuous cycle,” he said.

He selected #fantasticbaby for Goya, his Labrador dog which, he said, was their “substitute baby.”

For his running mate, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, Roxas chose “#blessed.”

When asked to pick a hashtag for Wharton School, regarded as one of the best business schools in the world, he said: “It’s #humblebrag… because I passed that school.”

As to Fiesta Carnival, a now-defunct indoor amusement center in Cubao, Quezon City, which his family owned, Roxas reluctantly chose #FirstLove.

“I grew up (going there). Candy, popcorn and carousel… All my memories of it is about happiness,” Roxas said.