It seems predictable in the light of circumstances that public expectations should focus on Senator Manuel A. Roxas II and Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III for possibilities of their team-up in the coming 2010 presidential elections.

Roxas, a declared presidential standard bearer of the Liberal Party that he heads, has been campaigning for the 2010 polls without a vice-presidential candidate being mentioned as if waiting for the proverbial teammate.

With the widespread public commiserations over the demise of Cory Aquino, the beloved democracy icon, the mergence of the son, Noynoy, as successor in interest in public affairs becomes inevitable.

The Aquinos, as exemplified by the hero Ninoy Aquino, are diehard Liberals.

Noynoy’s rise from the House of Representatives and then to the Senate which he both inherited from his father provides him the just and fair claim at the least to the vice-presidential slate.

Probably, this was what prodded former Senate President Jovito R. Salonga, the remaining old potentate of the party, to propose for a Mar Roxas-Nonoy Aquino tandem in the next years’ elections under the Liberal Party banner.

Roxas appears amenable to the idea and is hoping the matter will be discussed formally by the party leadership. He expressed hope it will be the subject of more serious considerations after the 40-day mourning of Cory Aquino’s death.

In the meantime, all Roxas could say was that he was aware of the responsibility that is now assumed by Noynoy Aquino passed upon him by his forebears.

As the nation observed the 26th anniversary of Ninoy Aquino’s death the other day, LP leaders were quoted as saying “Noynoy could no longer turn his back on the legacy left by his father, Ninoy, and his mother, the late President Corazon ‘Cory’ Aquino.”

The ball is now in Noynoy’s court, LP Senator Rodolfo Biazon noted, as he urged him to make a decision whether he is going to seek a higher office, “and the next step is the collective decision of the party.”

But it is obvious Malacañang people are unperturbed by such preparedness being laid out by the opposition, confident that they could meet the challenge head on: Lakas-Kampi-CMD has its own strategy to field the best national and local slates in the next year’s elections, they bragged, without mentioning by name their prospective leading candidates.

The fact is a lot of people are impressed by the prospect of a Roxas-Aquino tandem for president and vice president, respectively.

The impression is immediate and at once and without equivocation: Both are names that recall unquestioned political leadership, distinguished record of public service, integrity, and love of country, among others.

And above all, both Roxas and Aquino showed without question their trust in the Filipino.

I am, of course, referring to the Roxas and Aquino of yore from whom Manuel A. Roxas II and Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III inherited their noble name, respectively.

Manuel Roxas was President of the Philippines who was known for the brilliance of his mind.

“In life,” Senator Salonga writes in his book, The Task of Building a Better Nation, “Manuel Roxas – the statesman, the soldier, the intellectual, the economist, the compassionate gentleman – was a part of all of us who bore witness to his patriotism and intellect and vision.”

In death, the equally venerable Jovito Salonga said, Manuel Roxas belonged to all of us for he “is a living symbol of hope which neither death nor time can efface.”

Of course, as everybody knows, Ninoy Aquino is a modern day hero who said, “The Filipino is worth dying for,” and proved it.

With such touchstone and benchmark, how do their inheritors and progenies measure up? This question must be asked now, not later.

This may not be the ultimate study in conflict and paradox, but both Mar Roxas and Noynoy Aquino must mull about it: Does it feel right? Does it add up?

(zhern_218@yahoo.com)