With the Commission on Elections (Comelec) clearing Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to run for the presidency, it looks like he can afford to be generous and heed former president Fidel V. Ramos’s advice to act more like a statesman than a street alley bully.
Ramos advised both Duterte and Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Mar Roxas to stop their verbal schoolyard fight and start acting like “global statesmen.”
While Roxas won’t have any problem acting prim and proper, the Davao City mayor isn’t known for refined conduct and formalities.
He prides himself in being street smart and not bothering with niceties and protocol.
What you see is what you get, or so he tells his followers after disclosing that he has two girlfriends and two wives.
He didn’t mind saying the “P. I” word in the same breath as complaining of Pope Francis causing traffic jams with his Philippines visit, an expression that offended many of the Catholic faithful.
After pledging to fine himself P1,000 for every cuss word he mentions in public, Duterte managed to run into a new word war with Roxas that showed how his mouth works faster than his good sense.
Pinoy fascination with “sabong” or cockfights sometimes crosses over to political mudslinging.
By their words and actions, the public now has a better sense of the character of Duterte and Roxas.
Duterte’s accusation that the LP standard bearer did not graduate from Wharton should have been grounded in better research and prudence.
He extended his criticism to an insult.
It was simple enough for Roxas to produce a graduation photo and certification from his alma mater.
Roxas retort to challenge the Davao mayor to a fistfight put him in the same sandbox.
If the Duterte-Roxas exchange is anything to go by, the country’s voters can brace for anything-goes campaigning.
We don’t need to see self-proclaimed leaders descend to the level of gutter politics.
The campaign is supposed to put all candidates on their best behaviour.
If the pressure brings out their worst, then it’s up to voters to make the right choice.
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