Wharton recognizes Mar Roxas as a graduate in a 2012 Tweet

Presidential candidate Mar Roxas’s educational background was recently called into question by fellow presidentiable Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City. Duterte asserted that Roxas did not graduate from the Wharton School of Economics. Duterte stated, “He said that the peace and order in Davao city is a myth. I’d like to ask the presidentiable, you claim that you have graduated from the Wharton School of Economics, that is a myth. You did not graduate from the Wharton School of Economics.”

Roxas then said in a statement that he did graduate from Wharton and that he would slap Duterte once he proves it. “Kung hindi totoo ang Wharton degree ko, sampalin mo ako. Hindi ako iiwas o iilag. Pero kung totoo ang Wharton degree ko, sasampalin kita. O ayan. Ang bilis mong magsalita na hindi mo alam eh.” (“If my Wharton degree isn’t real, you can slap me. I’m not going to avoid or evade it. But if my Wharton degree is real, I will slap you. So there. You speak so quickly about something you know nothing about.”)

Roxas’s claim that he is a Wharton graduate may have already been confirmed by Wharton on social media as early as three years ago. In a tweet by Wharton magazine (@whartonmagazine) dated September 1, 2012, the Wharton School congratulated Mar Roxas for being appointed as the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary at the time.

Wharton’s tweet went, “Congratulations to Manuel ‘Mar’ Roxas, W’70, now appointed secretary of the interior and local government for the Philippines.” It can be noted in the tweet that Roxas was considered a graduate of Wharton in 1970 (W’70) and not from the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn’70).

No word yet from Duterte’s camp if they are aware of the said tweet.

Congratulations to Manuel “Mar” Roxas, W’70, now appointed secretary of the interior and local government for the Philippines.

— Wharton Magazine (@whartonmagazine) August 31, 2012