Portrait of 2 prospective First Ladies

(Second of two parts)

Last Monday’s episode of I-Witness gave the public the chance to get to know better the spouses of the four male candidates running for the presidency this May. (First Gentleman Atty. Mike Arroyo declined the show’s request for an interview.)

In my column last Thursday, I already gave my impressions of Alice Lacson and Sis. Dory Villanueva based on that I-Witness feature written and hosted by Sandra Aguinaldo. This time, let’s get to know better Sonia Roco and Susan Roces.

Although the Rocos are my neighbors in La Vista, I never got to know them personally because their house–nestled on a sloping terrain with a spectacular view of the Marikina Valley–is several blocks away from mine.

But I remember bumping into Sonia Roco sometime in 1996 (or was it 1997?) at the lobby of one of those SM Cinemas in Megamall. We were all waiting for the last full show to begin and Raul Roco was talking to a group of people by the popcorn stand while his wife patiently waited close by.

When I passed in front of Mrs. Roco, I smiled at her and she smiled back – although tentatively. She was probably wondering if we had met before.

No, we never had the chance to meet before that. I just greeted her as a matter of courtesy to a senator’s wife.

Prior to that, I remember reading about her horrifying experiences when she got trapped inside the Nevada Hotel in Baguio City during that 1990 earthquake. She was in the City of Pines then to attend a seminar when the ground began to shake. To save herself, she crouched under a table and soon after, the building began to collapse. Luckily, she was among those rescued and later even gave a demo for the benefit of the Philippine Star readers on what to do during an earthquake.

The I-Witness feature didn’t mention this anymore. But Sandra Aguinaldo did ask Mrs. Roco about those nasty little controversies that hounded Raul Roco when he was still Secretary of Education. Did Sonia Roco really use the Department of Education’s official driver as her personal chauffeur? Yes – but only to functions in which she had to be there on her husband’s behalf.

The I-Witness feature actually pictured Sonia Roco to be gracious and maternal – supportive of her husband and yet her own woman.

A gardening expert, we’ll probably see the greening of Metro Manila and other parts of the country once she becomes First Lady – perhaps in the tradition of Imelda Marcos’ Green Revolution, which was good, but unfortunately, fizzled out like most other government projects.

As First Lady, Mrs. Roco said that she would focus her attention on culture because she believes that this is the soul of the nation. Although I’m with her on this, I doubt very much if the jeepney drivers and their wives would agree with her – especially since this I-Witness feature was aired on the eve of that failed transport strike.

But really, Mrs. Roco has a point there, except that there are so many things this country needs and hopefully whoever becomes President would be able to provide all these. Would it be her husband, Raul Roco? We have to wait till May.

In the case of Susan Roces, she is the only one among the prospective First Ladies featured in I-Witness whom I know personally and I can vouch for her kindness and basic good nature.

But there is a side of her that I saw only in I-Witness last Monday: grace coupled with toughness under very extreme pressure. In show business you see, the nosey people that we are, there are issues regarding certain people that you don’t bother to touch on anymore. At most, you tiptoe around it.

Now, we don’t bother about these sensitive issues not necessarily because of fear. For us, it’s really just respect. In the case of Fernando Poe, Jr. and his wife Susan Roces, we in the business believe that there are delicate issues about them that are better left untouched. That‘s how much we love them. Also, since they’ve reached a certain stature in the industry, we also see to it that we give them the proper respect and courtesy. And leaving their private lives private is one of them.

But then, Fernando Poe, Jr. chose to run for public office and now, we see that for all the things they say about show business, it is still saner and a much more decent occupation compared to politics.

And now, my heart bleeds for Susan Roces because I know she is not used to mudslinging and muckraking and that it is not her wish for her husband to run for the Presidency. Sure, she joins the campaign trail, but only because she had always been a loving and supportive wife to her husband.

During that I-Witness episode, I thought I was going to die when Ms. Roces was asked very personal questions – like if she and her husband had tried all means to have their own child. Gasp. I nearly choked on that one.

But to Susan Roces’ credit, she carried herself well (although I did notice some discomfort in her) and answered the question straight to the point. Yes, they tried everything possible to have their own child, except that these advances in science today were not yet available during their time.

Although uttered with extreme difficulty, I have to give it to her for being very honest (I’ve always known her to be like that) and at that point I wanted to give her a one-man standing ovation. But I’m saving that for her future interviews – which would surely get even nastier now that we are a little over a month away from the elections.

That I-Witness feature by Sandra Aguinaldo on the prospective First Ladies was truly very informative and useful to the public. Although these women are not running for public office and are not even supposed to hold any position once in Malacañang, I believe we should still get to know them better before we cast our votes come election day because they, too, wield a lot of power. After all, don’t they sleep with the boss?