CEBU CITY, Philippines – Politicians say the darndest things. The races are only getting hot – and so are the mouths of politicians – as we get closer to election day. 

Cebu is one of the toughest campaign grounds, especially for the national candidates battling to get the city and the province’s 2.7 million votes. 

Here are some of the craziest, funniest and strangest – but most memorable lines said in Cebu by candidates running for office.

1. Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte on getting the support of Cebuano leaders: “Wala liderato nisuporta nako diri sa Cebu. Dali ra siguro patyon mga tawo diri.“ (No one of the leaders here support me. It should be easy to kill everyone here.) 

The Bisaya-speaking Davao mayor always jokes about killing people when he’s in Cebu, and it always seems to get a good laugh. He joked about this at a campaign rally at the Cebu coliseum.

The funniest part is, the next day, Talisay City’s Liberal Party mayor (LP) Johnny delos Reyes and Cordova mayor Arleigh Sitoy, also an LP member, declared their support for Duterte. A week later, the Garcia-led One Cebu endorsed his presidency. Were the jokes taken seriously? 

2. Vice President Jejomar Binay: “Hukuman lamang ho ang makapagsasabi kung kami ho ay guilty or not. Hindi ‘yung bintang mo Mr. Roxas — Mr. Goebbels pala, sorry.” (It can only be decided in court whether I am guilty or not, not your accusations, Mr. Roxas – I mean, Mr. Goebbels, sorry.)

Who?! Binay compared fellow presidential candidate Manuel ‘Mar’ Roxas II to Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi minister of propaganda.  

Goebbels is often attributed with the quote, “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.”

He told independent candidate Grace Poe, “Ikaw talaga isa ka pa sa kasama ni Goebbels (You’re also with Goebbels),” after she brought up the accusation his law firm is laundering money through PhilRem, the remittance service linked to the P81-million Bangladesh money laundering scandal. 

3. Rodrigo Duterte to Mar Roxas at Cebu presidential debate: “You’re a fraud, you’re pretentious”

This was one of the most heated moments at the second presidential debates which took place here last March 20. The tough-talking Davao mayor said this directly to the former interior secretary after the latter questioned his vow to end crime within 3 to 6 months of taking office.

4. Roxas hits back at Duterte: “‘Yan ang brand ng Duterte justice, kung ano ang naisip niya kahit hindi totoo, ‘yan ang kanyang paniniwalaan.” (That’s the brand of Duterte justice, whatever comes to his head even if it’s not true, that’s what he believes in.)

Roxas said this in response to Duterte’s campaign claim on wiping out crime.

5. Mayoral candidate Tomas Osmeña on political dynasties: ‘If you analyze the Osmeñas, we hate each other!”

The candidate explained during a Rappler forum on March 19 in Cebu City why he thought the Osmeñas were not a dynasty.

“We hate each other, you know. So how could you call it a dynasy?,” the 5-term former mayor of Cebu continued, “I hate Sonny Osmeña because he said the SRP is a monumental disaster. I spent 20 years of my life trying to do something for Cebu but he talks like he knows it all.”

Dozens of Osmeñas have served in local and national positions including Sergio Osmeña, the second President of the Commonwealth. 

6. Osmeña on solving traffic: “You’ll have to kill everyone”

At the same forum, Osmeña talked about how he would handle the worsening traffic situation in Cebu City. Aside from making sure cars have parking spaces and building more flyovers, he said the only way to control traffic is to control the population. “It’s like eliminating crime. If you can eliminate everyone there would be no crime.”

Do you have other memorable quotes from candidates to share? Let us know in the comments below! – Rappler.com