Image, certainly, is not everything in the acceptance or rejection of anything, but it is earnestly important for public consumption for whatever it is worth.

And this is true whether about people or things – or politicians for that matter, especially
in this season of political image-building.

All these we see on television today: Declared aspirants for next year’s presidential elections dramatizing their kinships with the man on the street; pedaling tricycle loaded with a bunch of youngsters and assuring them of oneness with them as he maneuvers along crowded city streets, “lalaban tayo;” and not the least, accompanying overseas Filipino workers coming home after having been stranded abroad for so long, and paying for their fares.

These are images that we see more and more on the television screens these days that create various impressions to the viewing public.

You also read about them in print presented from differing angles as advocacies and worse, in the form of legitimate news.

It is really sad that they are happening despite their full awareness that they are violating election laws on early campaigning but since nobody is complaining the practice continues and multiplying.

Mostly the political propaganda which they insist are paid advocacies – as if the public didn’t know – are too contrived and theatrical that they only serve to lampoon the candidates themselves, and unwittingly.

Still, for all their artifice and affectations, some of such image-building publicity somehow reflect the history and character of the candidates.

Senator Manny Villar’s television ad, for instance, that recalls his poverty days in the Tondo slums was an authentic and touching part of his true life, as everybody knows.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro who has joined the rush for political advertisements on television, has made a good start with his “preparedness” slant. It is credible enough even if like all the rest it purports to be an office advocacy.

By the way, former President Fidel V. Ramos who is chairman emeritus of the merged Lakas Kampi-CMD, has endorsed ‘‘Gibo’’ for the presidency.

But Senator Mar Roxas’ case is different, and a lot of people are talking about it with more than the casual observations.

The point is that Mar Roxas in the role of a tricycle driver simply does not excite people’s instinctive sentiments. What it arouses is probably certain inquisitiveness why he accepted the idea that is totally out of his character.

Curiously, what was immediately noticed in that tricycle ad was Mar Roxas’ superb acting ability that, again, was not a favorable issue for somebody who wants to be president.

In fact, Senator Roxas is getting to be the subject of much attention for his stance as an opposition leader. It seems that suddenly he has become or trying to become the “fightingest” opposition man.

His wearing of bawang ornament in the session hall and the language he used to express his opposition to certain issues certainly did not fit well into his character and standing as a well-mannered gentleman of high educational attainment and family background.

Just last week, in an incensed mode, he threatened to subpoena President Gloria Arroyo to a Senate hearing on his accusations that the President colluded with multinational pharmaceutical companies to derail the implementation of the Cheaper Medicines Act.

In response, one of the principal authors of the law, Rep. Ferjenel Biron, a medical doctor, blamed Roxas instead, saying the senator should blame himself “because he was the one who killed the ‘heart and soul’ of Republic Act 9502 or the Universally Accessible, Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act.”

Requiring the President to attend Senate hearing is “legally untenable,” according to Speaker Prospero Nograles, lecturing that it is “a violation of the executive privilege and inter-parliamentary and executive courtesy.”

Still and all, Mar Roxas remains a notable aspirant for the presidency, no doubt about that. But he should be careful about his public image.

(zhern_218@yahoo.com)