ADMINISTRATION standard bearer Manuel Roxas II on Sunday slammed Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for allegedly using him to gain more points for the presidency.
He made the comment after Duterte mocked him for being a “zombie” and doing “monologues” after Super Typhoon “Yolanda” ravaged Eastern Visayas in 2013.
“Mayor Duterte is just fourth in the [presidential] surveys,” Roxas told reporters in Siquijor.
“He said before that he didn’t want to talk with the candidate in the fourth spot, but now he’s in fourth place.”
On Saturday, Duterte taunted Roxas and called him “crazy” for claiming that he was “all work and no drama” in his latest political ad, picking up the administration standard bearer’s alleged “photo-shopped” pictures to bash him.
“He’s claiming that he’s no drama, but if he is not crazy, he ate rice in a cup. How stupid can you get? A cup is for water, a plate is for eating rice,” Duterte said in Paco, Manila.
“If he does not really engage in drama, he should not be in that commercial to begin with.”
The latest January 2016 survey by the Manila Broadcasting Co. showed Duterte was statistically tied for the lead with 27.86 percent of the votes while Senator Grace Poe had 28.59 percent.
But in another January 2016 preferential poll by the survey firm Social Weather Stations, Roxas placed third with 21 percent while Duterte had 20 percent behind first placer Vice President Jejomar Binay with 31 percent. Senator Grace Poe was second spot with 24 percent.
In the SWS survey, Roxas and Poe were already “statistically tied” in the presidential race.
In his latest political ad, Roxas appeared to take a shot at Duterte when he said he was not a bully.
“Why Mar? I don’t have drama and not asking for pity. And I’m not a bully and an abuser. Most importantly, I will not steal from you. No drama, just work,” Roxas said in the 20-seconder ad.
Duterte disagreed: “What is he saying no drama? I was there on Day 2 of Yolanda. He was there during the storm but he was not in his element. He looked like a zombie who didn’t know what to say, so he had monologues all the time.”
Roxas also took the opportunity to criticize Vice President Jejomar Binay whom he accuses of spreading lies against him.
“I have done everything and I know what I can do more for our country,” Roxas said.
“The vice president is saying all sorts of things. It’s better for him to answer the corruption charges against him: the overpriced hospital and the overpriced buildings. That’s what he needs to do.”