Roxas: My ambition is not my mission

Vice-presidential race frontrunner Mar Roxas on Friday said he has set aside any hurt feelings he may have had after he backed out of the presidential race to support the candidacy of Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

In an interview with TV Patrol World, Roxas said he is 100% behind the candidacies of Aquino and other Liberal Party members who are running in the 2010 elections.

"My ambition is not my mission. For me, what is important is that our country moves forward, that we raise our countrymen from poverty. I have seen that we will achieve this change, this better future faster through the candidacy of Sen. Noynoy Aquino," he said in Filipino.

Roxas, grandson of former Philippine president Manuel Roxas, gave way to Aquino's candidacy for president after the latter expressed his intention to run in the May 2010 polls. Both senators are members of the Liberal Party.

During the interview, Roxas dismissed talk that he is being left out of Aquino's campaign by various factions inside the Liberal Party.

He added that his role as Aquino's runningmate is to support the latter in whatever decision he makes. "Sometimes you are at the tiller steering the ship and sometimes you are at the oars, moving the boat forward. And sometimes you are handling the pail to bail out water from the vessel. I will do whatever Sen. Noynoy needs to make him a successful president," he said.

He noted, however, that he will speak out against any wrongdoing since his mandate comes from the people. "If I see something wrong, I will speak out and in that way safeguard the best interests of the country," he said.

Asked if he feels threatened about the improving ratings of vice-presidential candidate Loren Legarda, Roxas compared the electoral race to a basketball game with changing scores every quarter. "What's important is that we're leading and I hope that in May, we will win," he said.

Responding to a question posted on abs-cbnNEWS.com, Roxas said he would love to have kids with his wife, former ABS-CBN broadcaster Korina Sanchez. The two were married last Oct. 27, 2009.