Mar Roxas: Improving On Batman & Pokémon

MANILA: No, what Mar Roxas said was not a misquote – read on and improve your vocabulary today, courtesy of a supporter of Mar Roxas & Leni Robredo. (Image from Post Midnight Thoughts, wordpress.com, but which I posterized.)

Miriam Defensor-Santiago: "In all these years, you have been shaped by the elitist background from which you come and in which you operate. Do you not think that the path has been too narrow to be able to become the President of the Philippines?"

Mar Roxas: "As Batman said, it is not important how you came into this world. What is important is what you did with your life."

The exchange occurred during the presidential debate PiliPinas on Sunday, 24 April 2016 at the PHINMA University of Pangasinan in Dagupan City (ANN, 25 April 2016, Coconuts Manila, manila.coconuts.co). ANN (author not named) says in the title of the news item, "Mar Roxas misquotes Batman in presidential debate, this is the correct version."

Right after that, a netizen pointed out that Roxas' quote was "closer to Pokémon than Batman" (ANN, 25 April 2016, gmanetwork.com). Batman said in the movie: “It's not who I am underneath but what I do that defines me.” I saw the movie myself, Batman Begins, and I loved it.

There is more to it than just a misquote. Now to compare the quotes that are similar:

“I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.” – Mewtwo, Pokémon: The First Movie.

"It is not important how you came into this world. What is important is what you did with your life." – Mar Roxas

I find that indeed, what Roxas said is close in structure and sense to what Mewtwo said in the Pokémon movie. So, is it a misquote? No. to misquote is "to quote (a text, speech, etc) inaccurately" (Collins English Dictionary). What Roxas said is not derived from what Mewtwo said; it is very different.

So what is it? A misattribution. Roxas was wrong in saying it was Batman who said it; it came from another source. But not from Mewtwo. I tried and tried to google for that exact quote of Roxas but I came up with nothing.

Pokémon is a contraction of Pocket Monsters; it is a media franchise of the Pokémon Company; it is the second most successful and lucrative video game-based media franchise in the world, behind Nintendo's Mario (Wikipedia). Pokémon is now 20 years old. Both firms are Japanese.

The reason why I'm interested in finding out the correct source of Roxas' quote is that it is beautifully said, more beautifully than the quote from Mewtwo in Pokémon. This is from Roxas:

"It is not important how you came into this world. What is important is what you did with your life."

What Batman said was personal and selfish, directed to himself; what Pokémon said was similar to Batman although longer, still selfish; what Mar Roxas said implied unselfishness dedicated to public service: "What is important is what you did with your life." What Roxas said improved on Batman and Pokémon!

So what if Mar Roxas watched Batman Begins? So what if he watched Pokémon: The First Movie? I watched Batman myself, and Superman, and Star Wars and Harry Potter. These are very intelligent movies.

Because of my unsuccessful search for the source of the exact quote, I'm willing to attribute it in fact to Mar Roxas. But I will revise it a little, like this:

"It is not important how you came into this world. What is important is what you do with your life." Present tense.

This is a lesson for those netizens who were quick to point out that Mar Roxas made a mistake in stating the source of his quote. "What is important is what you do with your life."

So what are you doing with your life right now? Are you spending it trying to point out the mistakes of others, rejoicing when you make people sad by pointing out their errors?

There's more. What was buried in the brouhaha about Batman and Pokémon is Roxas' answer to Ms Miriam's first question: “I believe that there are three requirements for a good president of the Philippines. Number 1: Academic Excellence. Number 2: Professional Excellence and Number 3: Moral Excellence. Can you give me at least three examples of this?” (Lita Villa, 26 April 2016, "Was Miriam Santiago subtly giving Mar Roxas a chance to steal the votes?" lifestylecent.com). Roxas' answer:

My academic record is quite clear. I did graduate from the Wharton school of business: one of the best business schools in the entire United States …My diploma is up on the wall for anyone who wishes to see. With respect to professional excellence …we have defended treaties, the JAPEPA being one of them. I have been both an interpolator to yourself as well as you have interpolated me and I think you would be the best judge as to my capability in understanding the issues as particularly complex as it may be. And lastly, moral integrity. I think that my record 23 years in public life, not once having been connected to any kind of anomaly, speaks for itself. Walang mantsa, walang bahid na paninilbihan sa mahigit na 20 taon na pagsisilbi. The most important word that a public servant has is to say NO. No to temptation, no to offers, and no to even the seeming inappropriateness to certain acts.

Excellent answer! Yes, Ms Miriam was subtly giving Mr Roxas a chance to steal the votes. "Walang mantsa, walang bahid na paninilbihan sa mahigit na 20 taon na pagsisilbi." Freely translated: No stain, just clean public service for more than 20 years.

Not satisfied, I googled and I found these:

"The important thing is... what you did with your life afterwards." – Boothby in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

"Life is not about how you came into this world or how you leave it; it's what you do in between that makes all the difference." – Rich Mullins

"It is not how you came into this world, it is how you leave!" – Sue Stranahan

To end this one, I will paraphrase Ms Sue and say, in favor of Mar Roxas as President:

"It is not how you came into this world, it is how you live!"