Sorry people, but this election’s going to proceed without a debate organized by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).
The COMELEC today rejected the request of the opposition Liberal Party for the commission to organize a debate involving all senatorial candidates, including those from Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), which consists of pro-administration candidates.
In messages sent to several reporters, COMELEC Spokesman James Jimenez said that granting the opposition’s request would be “tantamount to giving preferential treatment to some senatorial candidates or slates,” The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
Jimenez said that it was also logistically impossible to hold debates for all 62 candidates running for the Senate without the COMELEC being accused of preferential treatment. Finally, Jimenez said the COMELEC doesn’t have enough time to organize the debates.
Candidates of the opposition, also known by the nickname Otso Diretso (Straight Eight), sent a letter last month to the COMELEC requesting them to facilitate a debate between them and HNP, Rappler reported. This came after First Daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio, HNP’s chairwoman, said that they have to find a third party to organize the debate after she Otso Diretso’s attempt to plan one “haphazard.”
She also called the opposition “black holes” and “dark” for their desire to engage HNP’s candidates in a debate.
Naturally, members of Otso Diretso were disappointed with the COMELEC’s decision. Senator Bam Aquino, who’s seeking re-election, told Rappler in Filipino: “If there’s a will, there’s a way. In a debate, it’s the public who wins because they can choose which candidate will serve and represent them.”
Another candidate, former Quezon province representative Erin Tañada said the decision was a “cop-out.” He said: “The COMELEC is not doing its job in helping educate the voters to make informed choices.”
Another Otso Diretso member, lawyer Romulo Macalintal, told ABS-CBN News that the COMELEC’s refusal to organize the debates shows that it’s a weak organization.
While the COMELEC is unable to organize debates, television networks GMA and ABS-CBN have already done so.
Otso Diretso is having a tough time cracking the top spots in several surveys. The most recent one conducted by Pulse Asia showed that only Aquino and former senator Mar Roxas, who ran against President Duterte in 2016, landed in the top 15 slots. The rest were either members of the HNP or independent candidates.
