VOL. XXIX NO. 306 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 TUESDAY : DECEMBER 15, 2015 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph
700,000 flee homes as ‘Nona’ hits land
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LET’S SLAP IT OUT, MAR DARES RODY By John Paolo Bencito and Rio N. Araja
LIBERAL Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II said Monday that Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, his opponent for the presidency, could slap him in the face if he could prove his claim that Roxas never graduated from the Wharton School of Economics. “Let’s have a slapping match,” a visibly irked Roxas challenged Duterte in Filipino. “If my Wharton degree is not real, you can slap me in the face and I won’t dodge it. But if the degree is real, then I’ll slap you.” Responding to the remarks, Duterte called Roxas an “idiot” who deserved to be slapped for his poor performance in the wake of Typhoon “Yolanda” two years ago. “If he gets mad at me, I’ll slap him,” Duterte said in Filipino. “I’ll slap that idiot if I chance upon him on the campaign trail.” Duterte also urged people not to vote for Roxas because he could not handle stress. “Will you make him your president?” he said. Next page
Dissenter in Poe case opts out of en banc By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan
‘Then slap me!’ Administration presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II tells reporters at UP Diliman that he had urged Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to slap him after Duterte threatened to do so. JOHN PAOLO BENCITO
THE only elections commissioner who has voted in favor of Senator Grace Poe so far will inhibit himself from the en banc hearing of petitions seeking her disqualification from next year’s presidential race, a spokesman for the Commission on Elections said Monday. In an interview, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez confirmed that Commissioner Christian Robert Lim would inhibit himself from the en banc hearing because the petitioner, Estrella Elamparo, used to be an associate in his law firm. Last week, Lim had voted Next page