Senate Office:
5th flr., Rm. 512 GSIS Bldg., Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City
Trunk Lines: (632) 552-6601 to 80 loc. 5524 - 26 / 5594
Direct Line: (632) 552-6688
Fax No.: (632) 552-6689
Email: marroxas@senate.gov.ph
Website: www.marroxas.com
BiographyMar Roxas was voted No. 1 senator during the May 10, 2004 elections with total votes of 19,237,888 - the highest ever garnered by a national candidate in any Philippine election.
Even before his election as No. 1 senator, the international community and various foreign publications had taken note of his outstanding record and accomplishments as a public servant and political leader, legislator, Cabinet member and economist.
Mar Roxas has been described “as one of the young leaders in politics and business who will bring Asia and the Pacific to the forefront of world affairs”.
During the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he was acknowledged as one of the Global Leaders of Tomorrow who is expected to shape the future.
Recently, he was named the 16th Lee Kuan Yew Fellow by the Singaporean government.
Grandson of the late President Manuel Roxas and son of the late Senator Gerry Roxas, he graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University and the Wharton School of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania.
Before joining government in 1993, Mar Roxas was an investment banker raising funds for venture capital as assistant vice president of the reputable New York-based Allen and Co., Inc. He also served as president of North Star Capitals Inc.
He became a Congressman, representing the lst District of Capiz, in 1993, and rose to prominence in the House of Representatives as Majority Leader of the 11th Congress. There he principally authored the Roxas Law or RA 7880 which established fair and equitable access to education to respective districts for sustainable development. His other landmark laws include RA 8756, providing incentives to multinational companies establishing regional headquarters in the country; RA 8557, establishing the Philippine Judiciary Academy; RA 8748, amending the Special Economic Zone Act; setting up a Public Employment Service Office in every locality; and strengthening the Professional Regulation Commission.
As Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Mar Roxas was popularly known as “Mr. Palengke”, not only because of his frequent visits to the markets, but also because of his advocacy on “Palengkenomics” which aims to develop the “palengke” as the basic unit of the economy and the root of progress.
As head of the Philippine delegation to the 5th World Trade Organization (WTO) conference on trade liberalization on September 10-14, 2003 in Cancun, Mexico, he voiced out a strong message “that they should deal with developing countries like us on equal footing and mutual respect.”
At DTI, he spearheaded the following major projects: “Tamang Timbang, Tamang Presyo” - to ensure accuracy of weighing scales and price tags to protect consumers; “Presyong Tama, Gamot Pampamilya” - to give consumers access to high quality medicine at very affordable prices (80 percent discount in various medicine); Personal Computers for Public Schools - to boost information technology by providing 30,000 computers to 2000 public high schools nationwide and by promoting business process outsourcing market that includes call centers; “Sulong” (SME Unified Lending Opportunities for National Growth) Program - to provide small and medium-scale entrepreneurs low-interest loans as well as technical and managerial trainings.
Senator Roxas is the chairman of the Committee on Economic Affairs, and the Committee on Trade and Commerce in this 13th Congress. He is also a member of the bicameral Commission on Appointments.
