Presidential spokesman Harry Roque cannot fathom the idea of former senator Mar Roxas as the president of the Philippines, saying the latter could not have addressed the present challenges as effectively as President Duterte.
(OPS / FILE PHOTO)
In an interview with TV5's "Deretsahan", Roque asked the public if they could imagine the fate of the Philippines if Roxas won the 2016 elections.
"Can you really imagine a Roxas leading this country amidst the many trials we have had? From COVID-19 pandemic to China," he told veteran broadcast journalist Luchi Cruz Valdez on Wednesday, March 24.
"Hindi ko maisip kung (I cannot imagine if) Mar Roxas became president, knowing yung mga (his) track record niya sa mga pagsusubok sa Yolanda tsaka doon sa Mamasapano (during trying times like Typhoon Yolanda and the Mamasapano Clash)," he added.
In a speech early this month, Roque said the Philippines would not have a single coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine dose until now if the country had a different president.
Roxas served as the Interior Secretary of former President Benigno Aquino III when Typhoon Yolanda killed 6,340 people in 2013 and when 44 Special Action Forces (SAF) troopers died in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in a clash against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
He ran for president in the 2016 elections against Duterte, Senator Grace Poe, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, and the late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Roxas placed second with 9,978,175 votes while Duterte won with 16,601,997 votes.
In one of the debates during the campaign period in 2016, then-Davao City Mayor Duterte said Roxas cannot be president and called him a fraud.
"You're a fraud. You're pretentious. Pati 'yung edukasyon mo, hindi ka naman taga-Wharton (Even your education, you didn't come from Wharton)," Duterte said in 2016.
Duterte said he was also in Tacloban after Typhoon Yolanda and he claimed that Roxas couldn't handle the tension during that time.
"This guy cannot handle stress. He is a weak leader," he said.
President Duterte hit Roxas again when the latter ran for Senate in 2019, saying Roxas was "nothing" and had no loyalty or principle for serving both the Arroyo and Aquino administrations.