Duterte binanatan si Mar Roxas

Rody Duterte vs Mar Roxas

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday insisted that Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Mar Roxas is in no position to deem whether Davao City is peaceful or not. Parrying Roxas' claim that Davao's peaceful image is only a "myth," Duterte said on local radio show: "It is not for you to say that. It's for the Davaoeños to tell us what [that] is all about." During a Galing Pook forum held at the Ateneo De Manila University last Friday, Roxas cited records from the Philippine National Police (PNP) showing that Davao had the fourth highest crime rate nationwide in 2014. 

Duterte rebutted that Roxas, as former Interior Local and Government Secretary until August 2015, is also responsible for any problem on Davao's peace and order. "Akala ko ba ikaw ang DILG. Kami, operations lang.. I don't even have the copy of the [police] blotter everyday or of the journal. Ikaw iyung may hawak ng pulis," the seven-term Davao mayor said. "Bakit 'di mo ***** ang police sa Davao kung mabigat talaga ang krimen? Either binola ka ng police mo or you were treated as a trash by the police. Mag-survey ka sa Crame.Kung manalo ka, mag-withdraw ako tapos ikakampanya kita," he added. 

Duterte went on to say that his fellow presidential aspirant's degree from the Wharton School of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania is the actual myth. "You claim to have graduated from Wharton School of Economics. That is a myth -- you did not graduate sa Wharton School Of Economics, Mr. Roxas. Wala doon sa listahan na naka-kumpleto ka ng 4 years o 5 years for a degree," the feisty mayor said. "Maybe nag-enroll ka ng three-month course, correspondence -- I would believe that. Pero ikaw na nag-graduate ka nang naka-toga? Show me a toga, kasama ng nanay mo that you graduated." 

The local chief executive also criticized Roxas for his supposed incompetent management of relief operations after typhoon "Yolanda" in 2012. "Iyung sa Yolanda, I was there noong Day 2. Mr. Roxas, you cannot handle stress," Duterte said. "That, I can tell the Filipino people. Huwag kayong magkamali. He cannot handle stress. He has something -- nagtatalak-talak." Duterte, who said he hails from Leyte, explained he was in Tacloban City two days after Yolanda left thousands dead. This is not the first time that Duterte went on a tirade against Roxas. The mayor earlier accused the LP bet's camp of spreading rumors that he has cancer. Roxas has denied any involvement in the alleged black propaganda against Duterte. 

Report from Claire Cornelio, ABS-CBN News

Duterte twits Mar over peace 'myth'