Roxas dares Duterte to a slapping match

MANILA, Philippines - If they make good their words, the verbal war between Liberal Party presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II and his rival Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte might end up becoming a slapping match. 

Irked by Duterte’s claim that his Wharton degree is not for real, Roxas said he is willing to be slapped by the mayor if it is proven that he is not a graduate of the business school.

Roxas, however, said he should be allowed to slap Duterte if he proves that he really obtained a degree from the Ivy League school.

“If my Wharton degree is not for real, he may slap me. I won’t avoid him. But if my Wharton degree is for real, I will slap him,” Roxas told reporters on the sidelines of a forum on urban poor in Quezon City.

READ: Duterte says Roxas not a Wharton grad

LP’s  presidential bet graduated from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1979 with a degree in Economics. He was included in the official university archives webpage as one of the university's  notable alumni: http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/notables/political/pennworld.html.

“I am ready to be slapped by him. He was the one who brought it up. What now? Lalake tayo lahat di ba (we are man enough right)? He said something. Now what?” he added.

Roxas said he would write a letter to Wharton so he can produce documents that would prove that he really earned a degree at the business school.

Earlier, Roxas dismissed as a myth notions that Davao City under Duterte is one of the safest places in the country.

Citing statistics from the Philippine National Police, Roxas said there were about 18,000 crime incidents in the city last year.

Duterte, known for his tough talk and his strong stance against crime, lashed back at Roxas by saying that the administration bet is not a graduate of Wharton School of Economics. Duterte went on to say that Roxas was not in the list of students who were able to complete a four or five-year degree. He also threatened to slap Roxas if they cross paths during the campaign period.

Roxas insisted that he was merely citing police statistics when he made a statement about the crimes in Davao.

“Mayor Digong Duterte is the chairman of the Regional Peace and Order Council. He must have forgotten that. He is in charge of peace and order in the entire Davao region. He appointed the (police) regional director and the chief of police of Davao City,” Roxas said.  

“Those statistics came from his men. That is the truth. Can’t he accept it? If he becomes the president and he receives bad news, will he slap somebody? Will that be his type of governance?” he added.

Roxas said violence no longer has place in society and that security forces should not be used to inflict harm on the people.

“Ang pulis, protektor ng ng tao, hindi sila tirador (Policemen are the protectors of the people. They are not hitmen),” Roxas said.

"The problem with Mayor Digong Duterte is he is used to one-man rule. If he does not get what he wants or if someone tells him the truth, he resorts to slapping," he added.

Roxas also denied maligning Duterte, whom he claimed to have considered as his friend.

“I did not malign anyone. It is he who maligns people. He even swears,” he said. 

Roxas said that Duterte has the tendency to be violent once his wants are not met.

"Ang mahirap kay Mayor Digong Duterte ay nasanay siya sa one-man rule. Nasanay siya na kung hindi niya nakukuha ang gusto niya, kung may magsabi sa kanya ng katotohanan, ay mananampal na lang siya o pagbubuhatan niya ng kamay,” Roxas said.

Duterte alleged that Roxas started the mudsliding by spreading the news that he has cancer which angered his children.

“Ikaw nag-umpisa e. Ikaw nagsabi na may cancer ako. I was really holding na ayaw ko then you got my children into anger,” Duterte said.

The mayor earlier said he wanted to slap Roxas over the government’s response in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda should their paths crossed.