ALUBIJIB, Misamis Oriental – Liberal Party standard bearer Mar Roxas yesterday continued his tirade against rival Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, calling him a weak leader.
“Don’t fool us Duterte. Don’t mislead us. Your words are all air and no substance, you’re only brave in your words.
Ampaw ka (You are weak),” Roxas said during a huddle with reporters here.
Earlier, Duterte labelled Roxas as “bakla”.
Roxas said Duterte’s use of bakla is just proof that he has no respect to all the sectors of the society, particularly women and members of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community.
Instead of resorting to name-calling, Roxas dared Duterte to dispute the crime statistics which he presented that ranks Davao
City fourth among cities with high crime rates.
He said Duterte was lying when he claimed that he would put a stop on all crimes within three to six months, adding that statistics from the Philippine National Police (PNP) showed that he is incapable of doing so.
The PNP data refers to the nationwide crime statistics showing that Davao City is number one in cases of murder, number two in cases of rape, number three in cases of homicide and number four in cases of robbery from 2010 to 2015.
The strategy of resorting to name-calling, according to Roxas, is but a proof that the Davao City mayor could not dispute the PNP data which he presented.
“How can he indeed explain his plan to eradicate crime in the entire country in just six months when he utterly failed in doing so in Davao City for 20 years of his term as mayor?,” said Roxas.
“This is the reason why he cannot answer it. The reason is that in reality he is weak,” he added.
Roxas also lambasted Duterte over his recent declaration that he would just go to China and challenged the Chinese leaders to a fistfight and gun duel over the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea.
“Is this the kind of leadership that he wants to do? Is this the right way of resolving the problem in the West Philippine Sea? Being a commander-in-chief is a not an easy task and it cannot be done by just tough talks and being a toughie because what is at stake here are the lives of our troops,” said Roxas.
“This is something that you cannot resolve by challenging China to a fistfight or gun duel. Remember that when I challenged you (to a fistfight), you backed out,” he stressed.
