By Aaron Recuenco
A start of kiss and makeup?
Although in doubt, senatorial candidate Mar Roxas welcomed Friday President Duterte’s ‘endorsement’ for the midterm elections next year.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
“Totoo ba yan? Kase wala akong personal knowledge. Kung totoo, maraming salamat kay Pangulong Duterte kung ganon man ang sinabi niya sa akin (Is it for real? I have no personal knowledge on that. I thank President Duterte if indeed he said something like that about me),” said Roxas in a statement.
The Manila Bulletin earlier reported Duterte endorsing Roxas, his main rival during the 2016 presidential elections, during the distribution of Certificate of Land Ownership to the natives of Boracay Island.
“Vote for Roxas. He is an Ilonggo. Vote for him, there’s no problem with that,” Duterte was quoted saying.
Attacks and criticisms between Roxas and Duterte, as well as their respective supporters, were vicious during the 2016 presidential campaign, to the point that both candidates challenged each other for a physical confrontation.
Duterte won the elections with more than 16 million votes, or with 6.6 million lead to his main rival Roxas who obtained almost 10 million votes.
Recently, Roxas broke his silence amid the rising price of rice and recommended some measures to eventually ease inflation.
But his suggestion was rejected and mocked by then presidential spokesman Harry Roque.
Amid the continuous political polarization as an offshoot of the presidential elections, Roxas stressed that he did not run for senator as a Round 2 of the 2016 polls but to help in solving the problems being faced by the Filipino people.
“It has always been clear to me: There’s no reason why Filipinos should not progress. I want to go back to public service so I can help with this,” said Roxas, an economist.