The recent interviews of two of the country’s top television hosts with Vice President Leni Robredo and former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. manifested the unpreparedness of the two presidential candidates to lead the nation.

Former Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop, currently a spokesperson for Partido Reporma chairman and standard bearer Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, made this observation of Robredo and Marcos’s appearances in the high rating presidential interview programs hosted by GMA7’s Jessica Soho and ABS-CBN’s Boy Abunda.

Acop said Robredo responses to incisive questions were “half-baked and rushed”, indicating that she is “not quite ready” for the Malacañang post.

On the other hand, Marcos’s answers were “disjointed, disingenuous” as he appeared only in Abunda’s show. The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas presidential bet rejected Soho’s invitation as his camp criticized the multi-awarded braodcast journalists as being ‘biased” against the Marcos family.

“Mr. Marcos' motherhood, socialist statements ring hollow because we have heard them before. He is just parroting statements made by current and former government officials that betray his lack of personal knowledge needed to govern the country,” said Acop.

A former retired Philippine National Police General, Acop criticized Robredo’s responses to questions as “often myopic in nature and inconsistent with her previous statements.” “I noticed that she often chooses to gnaw on specific examples she has presented before. This cannot stand for a Chief Executive that must have a macro view of the country's big problems,” he said.

“As a former police officer, my greatest fear is the Vice President's foreign policy, which to me is dead -- or will leave us dead. We are surrounded by threats that we as a country cannot deal with alone; we will need the help of all our allies to repel this cloud of doom hanging over us,” the veteran lawmaker stated.

“The best of intentions, as the Vice President often expresses, are not enough to help the Filipino people hurdle the perennial problems of poverty, corruption, criminality, disaster recovery, and others that Senator Lacson has already expressed concrete answers to, even during this pre-campaign period,” Acop noted.

Said Acop: “While we laud the Vice President’s willingness to serve the Filipino people, the Office of the President is another level entirely, requiring the knowledge, competency, and experience possessed by only one candidate at present – my good friend and colleague, Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.” “Meanwhile, once Mr. Marcos’ so-called platform is held up to the light of scrutiny and truthfulness, more Filipinos will appreciate the competence, wisdom, and experience Senator Lacson brings to the Office of the President – as many of our countrymen have expressed themselves on Facebook and Twitter,” the former lawmaker stated.