Vice presidential bet and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte’s spokesperson has responded to rival candidate Walden Bello's "coward" criticism against the presidential daughter.
“Matud pa ni Walden Bello, talawan kuno si Mayor Sara. Pero kinsa nila ang nagtago sa mga tawo karong kampanya (Walden Bello says that Mayor Sara is a coward. But, which one of them is hiding from the people during the campaign season)?” asked Duterte-Carpio’s spokesperson Liloan, Cebu Mayor Christina Frasco in a statement on Monday night, Feb. 28.
Bello went on a tirade against Duterte-Carpio and presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. during the CNN Vice Presidential Debate last Saturday, Feb. 26.
“And I’m really terribly sorry that Mayor Duterte is not here to face the people. She is a coward. Just like Bongbong Marcos,” said Bello on Feb. 26.
Frasco retorted that candidates can attend events and campaign sorties at their own discretion.
“Candidates are at liberty to decide whether or not to accept invitations to debates. It is also within a candidate’s discretion to limit his exposure to tweets and sound bytes only, as Walden Bello has done, or to have direct and personal engagement with the people, as Mayor Sara has shown this entire campaign season,” said Frasco.
“Dabawenyos enjoy a peaceful and progressive way of life. Mayor Sara has put in the hard work, going beyond the usual lip service of people like Walden Bello who like to talk and argue over problems without actually solving them,” she added.
She also noted that Duterte-Carpio’s election campaign is more ground-oriented, aimed at barnstorming and visiting constituents instead of attending debates to engage with other candidates.
“Far from the convenience of preaching platitudes from the pulpit, Mayor Sara has visited 70 cities, towns, islands, provinces, in less than two months, speaking directly to the people...Mayor Sara has already decided to do a campaign without attending debates and instead work her hardest on the ground to continue to earn the trust and win the vote of the people as the next vice president of the Philippines,” Franco explained.
UniTeam duo Duterte-Carpio and Marcos, Jr. have both drawn flak from both their rival candidates and the public for skipping debates, most recently the CNN Vice Presidential and Presidential debates on Feb. 26 and 27, respectively.
The two continue to lead the field in pre-election surveys, however.