Presidential candidate and survey frontrunner Bongbong Marcos expounded Wednesday, March 16 on his reservations about joining debates ahead of the May 2022 polls.
Speaking in the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum, Marcos was confounded with the fact that there now more debates among poll rivals compared to the past.
"The thing that's happened here in this campaign, dumami ang debate eh (the number of debates increased). Isa pa yun, (One more thing is, they don't seem to be debates at all)," the former senator said.
"The format is sometimes problematic, but that's OK. If there are so many debates, pare-pareho na yung tanong (the questions become repetitive). We're not getting anywhere, anymore," he added.
"And if it's going to be that way na pare-pareho na lang (it's always the same), debate, it gets personal, what use is that to anyone?" asked the UniTeam member.
"If there is a way that the debate will be actually productive, constructive, that we can talk policy--we can argue, we can debate, as a proper debate--then fine, I would go. But if we're going to repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat the same thing, then I'd rather campaign," Marcos said.
The Marcos camp earlier confirmed that the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) standard-bearer won't be attending the Commission on Elections (Comelec)-sponsored presidential debate this weekend.