MANILA, Philippines - Tough-talking Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is on the warpath against Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II over the government’s response in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda.
“… pag-magkita kami sa isang kanto dito sa kampanya, sampalin ko yang gagong yan (if we meet in some corner on the campaign trail, I will slap that idiot),” Duterte said during a thanksgiving dinner for Taguig’s partners in progress at the Bonifacio Global City on Friday night.
President Aquino sent Roxas to Tacloban before Yolanda made landfall in November 2013 to oversee the preparations of the government.
Duterte, who was born in Maasin, Southern Leyte, had responded to Yolanda-hit areas in Tacloban two days after the typhoon ravaged the city. He brought his 911 unit loaded with water and first aid kits along with some doctors.
He recalled an instance when at least three policemen stood guard when he met Roxas and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman in Tacloban. He said he told Roxas to “throw his policemen into the sea because they have no place here.”
Duterte said he could not help being emotional seeing dead bodies strewn on the streets on his way to the regional police command in Tacloban.
He said when Roxas called on firemen and city engineering personnel to clear the streets of the corpses, he told him not to ask residents to join in the clearing operations.
“I told him Mar, you are looking for men connected with the city government, and for all you know they are already dead. Do not look for these people here because all of them are victims. Do not create energy here because there is none. You call the army, tell them to come here to clean the place,” Duterte said he told Roxas.
Duterte also criticized Roxas for giving uncooked rice to the victims when they lost all their kitchen utensils and there was no water. “I told him to bring all the sardines, and pork and beans,” he said.
He said Roxas was “immature” for berating Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez. The incident, which was caught on video, went viral on social media. He said it was childish for Roxas to scold Romualdez just because the President was an Aquino.
Daunting job
Duterte said he could not blame Roxas for his response because he has no experience in local government.
“It was really a daunting job for him, but it was very wrong to send him there. He cannot handle stress,” he said.
Duterte said Roxas, if elected president, would have a hard time making a decision and might still consult his wife, broadcaster Korina Sanchez, in case China attacks the Philippines.
Duterte’s hard-hitting statements drew cheers from businessmen who attended the affair.
Duterte also drew applause when he related that Roxas replied Malacañang “had thought about that” when he told him he should bring in the police from Cebu and Bohol to fast-track the operations in Tacloban. He said it could not be possible because Malacañang is always “clueless.”
Duterte’s tirades came on the heels of Roxas’ statement at another forum on Friday criticizing his leadership style. Roxas said Duterte’s image as a crime buster is a “myth.”
Duterte said Roxas considers him a human rights violator only now that he is running against him for president.
He said Roxas did not consider him a “bad boy” when he was helping him during the elections.
On the Commission on Human Rights, he said it is a “very, very vague” government agency.
Poe’s VP
Duterte also took a swipe at Sen. Grace Poe, whom he claimed had asked him to be her vice president.
He said Poe, through a mutual friend, said she would help him if he would be her vice president. “When she mentioned it in one event, she came up with a disclaimer. She is lying,” he said.
Asked about the flak he has been getting for kissing women, Duterte said, “Is it bad to kiss women?”
Duterte, who admitted to being a womanizer, said he is known for randomly kissing women in Davao City.
“I want to kiss them, embrace them minus the sexual undertones… that is how I show my affection for the women,” he said.