Mar Roxas' pamamanhikan on Saturday

Seasite.niu.edu gives this definition of "pamamanhikan" under the section "Ligawan":

After a long courtship, if the couple later decide to get married, there is the Filipino tradition of pamamanhikan (from panik, to go up the stairs of the house), where the

man and his parents visit the woman's family and ask for her parents blessings to marry their daughter. It is also an occasion for the parents of the woman to get to know the parents of the man.

During pamamanhikan, the man and his parents bring some pasalubong (gifts). It is

also at this time that the wedding date is formally set, and the couple become engaged to get married.

Now, the reason why I am telling you about this is because Senator Mar Roxas is said to be planning to do his 'pamamanhikan' this coming Saturday at the home of Korina Sanchez's family.

This comes after a number of political publicity gim

micks which started with him shouting gutter language to signfiy his protest against Charter Change, coming out with a TV commercial in which he rode a pedicab, appearing in a noontime game show to announce his proposal of marriage to TV News host Korina Sanchez, and most recently, his attendance at a session at the Senate wearing a garlic garlands to ward off vampiric creatures in Congress who voted for HR 1109.

One wonders if some drama will unfold days before the supposed 'pamamanhikan'.

Will Judy Araneta Roxas, Mar's mother, threaten to disown him if he continues with his marriage plans? Will Mar then tell his mother that he'll endure being (relatively) poor just to be with the love of his life?

I wonder what Mar will be bringing as a pasalubong? Will it be a garland of bawang and several pieces of buntot page (which are the dried tails of skates or manta rays) that are items traditionally used to ward off aswangs or vampiric creatures.

Call me mushy, but I'll wait for this political sideshow. Who knows, Mar's survey ratings may just get another boost from this emerging pukefest.

Get your buckets ready!