MANILA, Philippines - If they make good on their word, the verbal war between Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II and his rival Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte might turn into a slapping match.
Irked by Duterte’s claim that his Wharton School of Economics degree is “a myth,” Roxas said he is willing to be slapped by the mayor if it could be proven that he is not a graduate of the prestigious US school.
Roxas, however, said that in turn, 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 at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City yesterday.
“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 could produce documents proving that he earned a degree at the business school.
His camp provided a link to a University of Pennsylvania website showing his name on a list of notable alumni.
GMA News reported receiving confirmation last night from Wharton that Roxas obtained an economics degree in 1979.
Roxas’ profile and photo can be found at the “Penn Notables” page, at http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/notables/political/pennworld.html.
The page featured national administrators in foreign governments, alumni, faculty and trustees of the university.
According to the website, Roxas obtained a Bachelor of Science in Economics degree at the Wharton School in 1979. The profile, however, was not updated as he was described as the Philippines’ trade secretary from 2001 to present.
Wharton counts among its alumni even those who attended classes but did not obtain a degree. These include Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump and Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who is running for vice president and nearly became Duterte’s running mate.
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 Davao City last year.
Duterte, known for his tough talk and strong stance against crime, lashed back at Roxas by saying that the administration bet is not a graduate of Wharton.
Duterte went on to say that Roxas was not in the list of students who were able to complete a four-year 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 a place in society and that security forces should not be used to inflict harm on the people.
“Ang pulis, protektor ng tao, hindi sila tirador (policemen are the protectors of the people, they are not hit men),” 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.
The tough-talking mayor also hit Roxas who claimed that the stable peace and order situation in Davao City was a myth, saying that his claims were true, unlike Roxas’ degree from Wharton which the mayor said was a myth.
Duterte had also claimed that Roxas failed to give enough relief to victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 when he was still interior and local government chief.
“If not, I’ll go to Davao and he (Duterte) can slap me at the airport. Let’s see,” Roxas said.
“I don’t see any big shot that he slapped in the face – they’re all little people, who can’t fight back,” he added.
Addressing Duterte by his nickname, Roxas said: “Digong, I consider you as a friend. I respect you. But it was also good that we all saw your true character.”
Duterte was the last among presidential candidates to file his certificate of candidacy for the 2016 elections but his nationwide survey ratings soared compared to Roxas, who placed either third or fourth, depending on which outfit conducted the survey. With Paolo Romero