DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte backpedaled on his challenge to engage Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II to a duel.
In a private dinner with lawmakers associated with the National Unity Party at Romulo’s Cafe in Quezon City Tuesday night, Duterte said he never challenged Roxas to a duel.
“Gunfights are for criminals,” Duterte told Manila reporters Tuesday night. “Mar [Roxas] will be running for president, right?”
“[Roxas] doesn’t even know how to hold a gun. Why would I challenge him into a gun fight?” he added.
In the morning of the same day, Duterte had told Davao media that he would rather have a gunfight rather than a fistfight with Roxas, who earlier challenged the mayor to a slapping contest in his home in Cubao, Quezon City.
“A gun duel. Rich folks are afraid to die. What am I afraid of?” Duterte said during the sidelines of a forum he attended on Tuesday.
He also made light of his word war with Roxas, and said he would send a priest to lecture him on how to behave in public.
“I consulted a doctor. They said that I shouldn’t engage in any brawl because I have mumps,” he added.
Roxas fired the first shot in the word war by saying Davao’s reputation as the safest city in the country was a myth.
Duterte responded by saying Roxas’ graduation from the Wharton Business School was a myth.
The two presidential aspirants then exchanged challenges, with Duterte threatening to slap Roxas, whom he called an idiot, if they saw each other on the campaign trail.
Roxas then challenged Duterte to a fistfight, but the mayor said he preferred to use guns.
But on Tuesday night, Duterte said he was not closing any doors to a possible reconciliation with Roxas, a former colleague at the House of Representatives. He said it was Roxas who started the word war.
“I did not start the verbal hassle. He doesn’t need [to say sorry.] For true men, just reaching out his hand is enough,” Duterte said.
Duterte said it was Roxas, who was then Interior secretary, who gave him a “seal of good governance,” but later attacked his record in Davao.
In an interview with reporters in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu, Roxas fired back at Duterte, saying it was the mayor who started the feud.
“I never lied to him. He is the one who is saying that I didn’t graduate. You know, it’s not important to me whatever his view… It’s in the records—in the Internet, there’s an alumni book, there’s even a record in [Wharton] school where I graduated,” said Roxas.
Addressing Duterte, Roxas urged the mayor to elevate the level of debate.
“Mayor Digong, let’s level up. Our people deserve better. This mud-slinging of lies does not have a place in our political discourse.”
Roxas said he has already proven that he would stand up to Duterte’s bullying.
“Let’s leave the issue of gun fights, slapping or outrage. It’s clear that I will not back out from any fight against Mayor Duterte. It’s clear that I’m not afraid and will meet him.”
Roxas added that he is willing to go in a one-on-one debate with Duterte to debunk his statements.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda got into the exchange Wednesday, attacking Duterte as “a two-bit goon” on his Facebook page.
“When you attack Mar Roxas on the basis of a chismis [gossip] and then you don’t fact check that rumor, it shows you are a lightweight and a rumor monger,” Lacierda said.
“When you dare to slap Mar Roxas because your minuscule capacity for rationality has repeatedly allowed you to indulge your whims and caprices, it shows you are a spoiled dictatorial brat,” he said.
“When you challenge Mar Roxas to a gun duel because you refuse to acknowledge your asinine error and knowing fully well as a lawyer it is a violation of the Revised Penal Code, it shows you are nothing but a two-bit goon,” Lacierda added.
Former President Fidel V. Ramos expressed disappointment with Roxas and Duterte, urging them to “act like a president.”
“We’re no longer in the period of Antonio Luna and Andres Bonifacio. Those who are together do not kill each other but unite to move our country, the Philippines, forward,” he added.