MANILA Mayor and Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer Isko Moreno yesterday said candidates have the right to request for a debate format.
“That is their right. Karapatan nila ‘yun and I respect their views,” Moreno told reporters after his courtesy call on Malabon Mayor Antolin Oreta III.
Moreno added he does not begrudge those candidates but added he would never do the same.
“You can ask CNN. We never do that, we have been with other stations also such as GMA7, and ABS-CBN, hindi kami nanghihingi ng mga ano,” he said, adding his team instead asks organizers about the debate rules.
Moreno said aside from engaging in debates, his team would continue engaging directly with the people.
“We will go straight to the people. We will continue doing that,” Moreno said.
He also said that debates are not graded recitations, adding that at the end of the day, it would be the candidates’ “employers,” the people, who would eventually decide on their preferred choice to lead the country.
“Let your employer hire you based on your merits, answers, vision, aspirations, and plans,” he said.
Earlier, former senator and presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. received backlash after his campaign manager, former MMDA chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr., asked the Commission on Elections to first tackle the debate format prior to the event.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez had announced that all presidential candidates in the May 9 elections will attend the presidential debate organized by the poll body on March 19.
But Marcos’ spokesperson, Vic Rodriguez, clarified that the attendance of Marcos will only be confirmed “if his hectic campaign schedules permit.”
Marcos did not attend the recent presidential debate organized by CNN Philippines as well as the interview on presidential candidates by veteran journalist Jessica Sojo on GMA7 network.
