NUEVA ECIJA - Presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte again chided Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Mar Roxas for calling his cussing and macho style as "gasgas na" and "kumita na."

In an ambush interview on Tuesday, Duterte asked Roxas why he was awarded a certificate of good governance by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), which the latter used to head, if his so-called over-the-top governance is bad.

"Naka-droga ba siya?" Duterte quipped.

Duterte and running mate Senator Alan Peter Cayetano today visited Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija and met with local leaders and medical professionals.

Aside from laying out his platform of government, Duterte called on the other candidates to keep the campaign clean and safe.

Cabanatuan City has been named by the Philippine National Police (PNP) as an election hotspot.

NOT EXPECTING

Meantime, Duterte said it really does not matter if Senator Grace Poe remains the top choice for president of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC).

Duterte said he was not expecting to get the NPC's nod when he met with the group last night, noting that the members merely wanted to know the platform of the Duterte-Cayetano tandem.

He said the meeting went well and he was able to relay to them the kind of government he will run in his bid to wipe out drugs, criminality and corruption.

The NPC, the country's second biggest political party, met with the other presidential aspirants Poe, Mar Roxas, and Vice President Jejomar Binay, last year.

A spokesperson for the NPC, Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga, said Poe remains the top choice for president of his party mates despite the pending disqualification cases against her.

''A lot of members would want the party to support Senator Grace Poe. Itong eleksyon na ito would be very much different. The party is bent on choosing one presidential candidate,'' Enverga said.

''For us, we would want everyone to be given a fair chance... We will have a presidential candidate to support before February 9."

Duterte will also meet with members of the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce Tuesday night.