Vice President Leni Robredo said it would have been a good public discourse to see the debate between President Duterte and former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue because a lot of Filipinos don’t understand it.
Speaking on her Sunday radio show with broadcaster Ely Saludar, Robredo lamented that the debate will not push through because the President backed out from the challenge he himself made.
The vice president felt it would be good for the public to watch a debate between Carpio and Duterte. Robredo was also equally excited that the Philippine Bar Association (PBA) offered to host the debate.
“Kasi ang katotohanan talaga, Ka Ely, marami sa mga kababayan natin ang hindi klaro iyong issue sa West Philippine Sea. So, kung magkaroon ng discussion hindi naman nga kailangan na away ito eh, di ba? Pero kung magkaroon ng public na latagan nung ano talaga, tingin ko very educational ito sa publiko eh (Because the truth is, Ka Ely, many of our fellowmen don’t understand clearly the issue about West Philippine Sea. So, if there will be a discussion and this is not going to be a fight, right? But if there will be a public discourse, I think it will be very educational to the public),” she said.
“Sayang kasi nagback-out si presidente (It’s too bad that the President backed out),” the lady official added.
https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/07/duterte-withdraws-from-wps-debate-with-carpio/
Robredo questioned how Presidential spokesman Harry Roque and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo are making it look like it was Carpio who challenged the President.
“Iyong statements nila parang lumalabas na si Justice Carpio iyong naghamon. Si Justice Carpio naghamon kay presidente, hindi naman ganun ‘di ba? Si presidente iyong gumawa ng dare, inaccept lang naman ni Justice Carpio iyong dare (Their statements make it look like it is Justice Carpio who made the dare. It’s not like that, right? It’s the President who made the dare, Justice Carpio just accepted it),” she said.
The lady official cited social media memes where it is being looked like it is Carpio who is backing out of the debate.
Carpio already said he’s willing to face any representative the President wants to send but added that he doesn’t want to debate on “pointless” issues such as losing the Scarborough Shoal (Panatag Shoal) during the Aquino administration and the Mischief Reef during the Ramos administration.
Instead, the former associate justice wants to debate about the President’s erroneous assumptions that China is already in possession of the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
On Twitter, the hashtag #DuterteDuwag (Duterte is a coward) trended after the President backed out from the debate and tapped Roque to represent him. Panelo then defended the President and said that his backing out doesn’t mean cowardice, but that they simply don’t want Carpio to use Duterte for media mileage.