Roxas, Duterte exchange 'sampal' threats

The war of words between Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Mar Roxas and Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte heated up as both presidential candidates exchanged threats that they will slap the other.

Roxas on Monday threatened to slap Duterte if he proves to the Davao City mayor that he is an alumni of Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

"Ganito, magsampalan kami. Kung hindi totoo ang Wharton degree ko, sampalin mo ako. Hindi ako iiwas o iilag. Pero kung totoo ‘yung Wharton degree ko, sasampalin kita," Roxas told reporters at the UP-Diliman campus, where he graced the PCUP-Urban Poor Solidarity Week Celebration.

Roxas also said: "Sampalin niya ko. Punta siya rito. Kung hindi, punta ako sa Davao, sampalin niya ko doon sa airport. Tignan natin."

On Sunday, Duterte alleged in a local TV interview in Davao City that the LP standard bearer's claim that he is a Wharton alumni was a lie.

Before the interview, the Davao City mayor said that he would slap Roxas in the face if their paths crossed during the campaign period.

"… pag magkita kami sa isang kanto dito sa kampanya, sampalin ko yang ****** 'yan," Duterte said during a thanksgiving dinner at the Bonifacio Global City last Friday night.

Duterte was apparently reacting to Roxas's statement that claims Davao City is one of the safest cities in the country is just a myth.

Citing data from the Philippine National Police, Roxas, a former Interior and Local Government secretary, said some 18,000 crime incidents were recorded in Davao City in 2014.

“So myth, kathang isip, imagination lang 'yung payapa ang Davao City. Hindi ko sila dina-down, sinasabi ko lang kung ano ang istatistika,” he said during a presidential forum at the Ateneo De Manila University in Quezon City.

At the event in UP, Roxas said that Duterte was used to a "one-man rule."

Mar Roxas statement sa banta ni Rodrigo Duterte na sasampalin niya si Roxas: "Sampalin nya ako. Tingnan natin.Nasanay sya sa one-man rule."

— sandra aguinaldo (@sandraguinaldo) December 14, 2015

Before the word war, Duterte had accused the camp of Roxas of spreading rumors that he had throat cancer.

The mayor said that the rumors came from people close to Roxas and that he find it offensive because his ex-wife Elizabeth had cancer.

Roxas has denied that he was behind the cancer rumors. —ALG/JST, GMA News