Comelec on Duterte-Roxas ‘slapping’ match: Leave them be
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) refused to dabble in the verbal tussle between presidential aspirants Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and former Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II which recently turned into an exchange of threats of physical violence.
At a televised press briefing on Tuesday, Comelec chair Andres Bautista said that the heated exchange between the two presidential hopefuls is part of the electoral process.
READ: Roxas, Duterte engage in ‘slapstick’ politics
He said that he trusts that the Filipino electorate will be able to choose a worthy leader when the dust clears after the word war between Duterte and Roxas.
“Hayaan mo sila ((Leave them be)…. Ang election (The elections) is not for the onion-skinned. Kasama talaga yan (that is part of it) [word war]. Ako naniniwala na (I believe that) the Filipino people will wisely decide on what kind of leader they want to elect in 2016,” Bautista said.
The poll body chair said that the word war between the two presidential bets brings out their characters.
“’Yung mga sagutan, kasama yan sa (Exchanges are part of) dialogue and to also inform the electorate kung ano ang karakter ng mga kandidato (about the character of the candidate). It provides us a holistic view of our candidates, which I think is important,” Bautista added.
In the end, he hopes that the slap threats between Roxas and Duterte would evolve into a dialogue of platforms.
The verbal tussle between Roxas and Duterte started when the administration bet said that the label of Duterte being a crime buster was a “myth.”
READ: Duterte hits back at Roxas, says Wharton cred is a myth
The feisty mayor then retaliated, saying that Roxas’ Wharton degree was a lie.
Roxas challenged Duterte to slap him if it is proven that he did not graduate from the prestigious school and that if he is able to prove that his Wharton degree is real, he said that he would slap Duterte.
The administration bet slammed the tough-talking mayor for being used to imposing a “one-man rule.”
“He got used to a system in which if he does not get what he wants, if someone tells him the truth, he will just slap someone or raise his fist. I don’t know if he has slapped any powerful person; he has only slapped the small people who cannot fight back,” Roxas was quoted as saying last Sunday. CDG
READ: Roxas to Duterte: Slap me if you can prove my Wharton degree is fake
