From Senator Mar Roxas’ “I seek to unite, not divide” speech at Club Filipino on Sept. 1: “Noynoy has made it clear to me that he wants to carry the torch of leadership.”

The important words in that sentence: Clear. Wants. Leadership.

Certainly, not the LEADERSHIP of the Liberal Party, but as the party’s standard bearer. Senator Benigno Aquino III WANTS it. He made it CLEAR to Senator Roxas.

If Mr. Aquino knew even before Sept. 1 that he wanted to be a presidential candidate, why all the suspense about consulting with his sisters, religious sisters, and allies in Davao, Zamboanga, Tarlac, and elsewhere? Why wait until Sept. 9 or 10 to make a formal declaration?

Who says Senator Aquino doesn’t have what it takes to be a hotblooded politician? Isn’t he behaving like one already? He’s learning fast, or have we merely underestimated his percipience? To be able to convince Senator Roxas, who is his senior in age, experience, and savvy, without really convincing him but merely by making it CLEAR that he WANTS his position as their party’s presidential candidate – what was that if not spellbinding?

(Two days later, Mar regained consciousness: “Masakit . . . tao lang ako.”)

And here we were, thinking that Mar’s announcement was a surprise to one and all, including his co-senator and party mate. The “surprise” looked real, too, because the person who benefited the most from it appeared so stunned that he couldn’t deliver a simple response like “Thank you,” standing as he was just a few feet away.

Instead, he waited 24 hours to recover.

And when he did, at the same Club Filipino, it was only to beg for time, a plea that his superstar sister Kris was to echo on television.

It’s not the kind of time that will change his mind or his wanting heart.