Vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo admitted being unhappy over the poor quality of discourse between her Liberal Party (LP) running mate, Mar Roxas, and his rival for the presidency, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte of PDP-Laban.
In an interview during a visit to Bulacan, Robredo said it was unfortunate their fight went down to the level that it did.
Roxas and Duterte had provoked each other in the media with threats of slapping, punching and shooting, leading to admonitions from such as former President Fidel V. Ramos to show more class and elevate the political debate.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. of the LP at one point advised Duterte to “cool it.”
Robredo said she did not fully follow the bitter word war but from what she could gather, Roxas was only hitting back at a “bully.”
“He (Roxas) felt he was being bullied and he only wanted to send a message that we should not bully other people, so that’s what he said,” Robredo said.
People deserved better
Apparently, the quarrel began when Roxas cited statistics showing Davao City was number-four in a crime survey, belying Duterte’s oft-repeated claim his city was the safest in the country.
Duterte struck back, saying Roxas was not a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, contrary to his claim.
Robredo said the people deserved better from candidates for office and she wished the debate had not deteriorated the way it did.
“The Philippines is faced with a lot of problems, there are a lot of issues that have to be discussed,” she said.
She said that among the issues candidates should focus on was the problem of poverty suffered by a significant chunk of the population.