Roxas in the sun, Ochoa in the shade

I don't know if both President Aquino and DILG secretary Mar Roxas realize it, but at the rate Aquino is letting Roxas do the things he himself should be doing, and then make a very poor job out of it, the chances of Roxas realizing his cherished dream of becoming president could completely dissipate even before 2016.

There are two ways to look at the situation. One, Aquino may think pushing Roxas into the limelight at every opportunity will give him the headstart in the campaign, and two, the president is simply too lazy to do the things he should be doing himself.

Either way, though, it is not working. Almost everytime Aquino lets Roxas take charge of a situation, the DILG secretary almost always fails to resolve it positively. Not that Aquino could have done a better job of it. But at least the president no longer has a political ambition to nurture and protect.

With Roxas it is different. He already gave way to Aquino in 2010. Surely he could not afford to compromise yet again his presidential designs come 2016. For Roxas, 2016 is the make-or-break year for his dream. If it slips through his hands yet again, he will have been too old and a has-been beyond that time.

I am sure Roxas relishes certain opportunities for him to be seen by the public as the man in charge. But if left to his own devices, I believe Roxas would rather that he had a choice over which opportunities to seize and advance his political interests. But as things are going, it is Aquino who is picking the situations for Roxas to resolve. And that leaves Roxas with too little elbow room to maneuver his political interests through the tricky currents that Aquino asks him to navigate.

In other words, Roxas is being asked to take great risks that he didn't have to take. And if his track record in relation to these situations is any indication, the risks he has taken are working cruelly against his interests.

Roxas is absorbing the fallout from these failures when these should have been Aquino's ballgame. Roxas is being blamed unnecessarily when it ought to have been the president who should be taking these punches on the chin.

Yet, the wonder of it all is that neither of the two seems to know any better. Aquino keeps sending Roxas to do what he should be doing, and Roxas takes off to do it without any complaint. It could be remarkable loyalty, or it could be unconditional obedience.

But if somebody calls it stupidity, you will not see me lining up to complain. Look, it is not that I am particularly impressed by Roxas as a presidential timber. But for God's sake, he has already made a terrible sacrifice in 2010. He should not be forced to compromise his chances in 2016.

If Aquino is too lazy to do things by himself, or is too dense to make distinctions between what he can do himself and what he needs to delegate, at least he should have the sense to spare Roxas because of the luggage he bears. He could have sent someone else instead.

He could, for instance, send Paquito Ochoa, the executive secretary. But wonder of wonders, I have yet to see or hear of Aquino letting Ochoa do anything. In fact, Ochoa is the first executive secretary within memory who does not seem to have any responsibilities at all.

An executive secretary is supposed to be a very powerful figure in any government. In fact, he is not called little president for nothing. Yet, as far as Aquino is concerned, there seems to be no need for the services of an executive secretary, except perhaps as a drinking buddy.

Aquino could have let Ochoa do the things he is asking Roxas to do instead. And with no known political ambitions, Ochoa would have had no political risks to worry about and protect. He could never be as vulnerable as Roxas is each time Aquino sends him on a trouble-shooting mission.

I am beginning to suspect this simple matter of choosing who to delegate is not so simple at all, as I seem to recall that Roxas and Ochoa are prominently identified with rival factions in the Aquino administration -- the Balay group and the Samar group. Suddenly, how Aquino pulls the strings has become instructive.