Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte and Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Mar Roxas INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
LIBERAL Party (LP) standard-bearer Mar Roxas took it up a notch in his word war with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, even as he firmed up his political support in the Visayas and Mindanao.
In an interview with reporters at LP headquarters in Quezon City, Roxas challenged Duterte to a fist fight because slapping, like Duterte wanted, “was for women.”
Roxas said Duterte should back his fighting words by coming to his house on P. Tuazon Street in Cubao, Quezon City.
“He talks too much. I gave him my address, what more does he want? Next time I fly to Davao, I’ll tell him when I get there,” Roxas said.
Roxas said Duterte’s threat to slap him, his assertion that Roxas did not graduate from Wharton and his claims of having killed scores of criminals had no bearing on the welfare of the more than 100 million Filipinos.
“All this tough guy posturing is getting old really fast. I am angry at bullies, those who have a heavy hand, those who think they are the only authority in this country. If you haven’t found your match Digong, I am here. I won’t back down from you,” said Roxas, calling Duterte by his nickname.
He said Duterte had so far failed to back up all his macho talk.
“It doesn’t matter if he believes I went to Wharton or not. The school has already spoken. Many of my batch mates want to come out but I don’t want them to get involved. We face a lot of problems and yet Mayor Duterte’s problem is where I graduated,” said Roxas.
He said he felt he had let himself down by getting “distracted” by Duterte’s showboating.
“I will be focused on the issues. But this does not mean that if there are persons saying a lot of nonsense that I will just let them go without a fight,” he added.
Roxas meanwhile has moved to consolidate his base of support in Duterte’s Mindanao bailiwick.
“It’s really encouraging to get continued support for ‘Daang Matuwid’ from governors and representatives from Mindanao. Each one of them gave their testimony and it was touching,” he said.
Roxas also met with leaders of the Visayas bloc Tuesday.
Yacap party-list Rep. Carol Jane Lopez said Roxas and Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez buried the hatchet after the latter decided to run as an independent.