Mar Roxas on bike crash: I needed to reach ground zero

BORONGAN, Eastern Samar—Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II used a motorcycle in an attempt to overcome debris-strewn roads and reach Dolores town, first landfall of the most powerful typhoon to slam into the country this year. In the process, Roxas, wearing a baseball cap, crashed. He was uninjured but the incident, caught on video that made it to YouTube, sparked comments, some nasty, on social media.

The interior secretary, who had his hands full leading the government’s response to the devastation wrought by Typhoon “Ruby” (international name: Hagupit), on Tuesday laughed off the snide remarks, calling them a “nonissue.”

Instead, Roxas asked the public to just focus on the government’s relief and rehabilitation work, which was obviously better and faster than during the aftermath of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) last year.

“If I fail to reach Dolores, they will ask why I did not go to Dolores. Now that I reached Dolores, I’m still being criticized. I rather not pay attention to those criticisms,” Roxas told reporters after the meeting of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

“It was my job to reach ground zero. We were able to do that within 24 hours. My job was to report to (President Aquino) since I was there in the frontline and as forward observer,” he added.

He said he decided to find a way to go to Dolores on Sunday “because that’s the ground zero” of the typhoon’s fury.

“If I had wings, like what they say of Capiz natives like me, I would have flown to that area,” he said in jest, apparently referring to the myth that natives of the province were aswang, a winged, vampire-like creature.

“I don’t care if I walk, take the motorcycle or ride a horse if that’s the only way to reach that area. I did not think of the regulations (about the use of helmet) and my safety because my concern was to reach the people in Dolores,” Roxas added.

Personnel of the local police and the Department of Public Works and Highways said that the main highway going to the northern part of the province was blocked with fallen trees and other debris.

Roxas drove the lead vehicle of the convoy of media and international nongovernment agencies heading to Dolores.

About 20 kilometers from the town, at around 4 p.m., Roxas alighted from the van and entered a house by the roadside. He later told the Inquirer he asked to rent one of the motorcycles parked there.

Ten minutes later, Roxas took a motorcycle and drove off with a staff member of Palace spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, leaving his security aides behind.

“We have to hurry. We only have two hours of daylight left,” he said. -With report by Marlon Ramos