There is no word yet if presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. will attend the second Pilipinas Debates 2022.
The other nine presidential candidates, previously present in the first debate, have confirmed their attendance to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
The nine candidates were Ernesto “Ernie” C. Abella, Leodegario “Leody” Q. De Guzman, Francisco “Isko” M. Domagoso, Norberto “Bert” B. Gonzales, Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson, Emmanuel “Manny Pacman” D. Pacquiao, Faisal “Fai” M. Mangondato, Jose “Joey” C. Montemayor Jr., and Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo.
Recently, the Comelec changed the format of the second presidential debate which will be held on Sunday, April 3.
In a text message to the Manila Bulletin, Comelec Spokesperson James B. Jimenez said that, among the presidential candidates, only Marcos did not confirm his attendance at the debate.
“He has not confirmed attendance, nor formally declined,” Jimenez said in a text message when asked about Marcos' attendance.
New debate format
The upcoming presidential debate will have “one general question that will be posed for all the candidates to answer, and this will happen at the start of the debate.”
For each succeeding segment, Jimenez said, the candidates will be divided into groups of three where each group will be given one question to debate.
As such, he said there will be three questions for each succeeding segment.
Groups of threes will change with each segment, Jimenez said, saying each group will be randomly pre-determined through a drawing of lots before the start of the debate.
The participating presidential candidates will each be given a 60-second closing statement.
On March 19, the first PiliPinas Debates 2022 for presidential bets was held at the Sofitel Harbor Garden Tent in Pasay City. Nine out of 10 presidential candidates joined, and only Marcos did not attend the debate.
Meanwhile, the Town Hall debates for presidential and vice-presidential candidates will take place on April 23 and 24, respectively.
Currently, the only sanction being imposed by the poll body to debate skippers is depriving them of the right to use Comelec’s e-rally platforms.
The hands of Comelec are tied as it cannot impose any further sanctions on candidates who will not take part in debates.
The poll body noted that there is no law penalizing debate skippers, saying imposing additional sanctions may be questioned as unconstitutional.