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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Robredo will attend all Comelec debates — spox

Robredo will attend all Comelec debates — spox

Published Mar 13, 2022 03:14 pm

While her camp has yet to submit a formal written commitment to the Commission on Elections (Comelec), presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo’s spokesman confirmed on Sunday, March 13, that she will attend all debates organized by the poll body.

Vice President Leni Robredo during a campaign rally in Bacolod City on Friday, March 11, 2022. (VPLR Media Bureau)

“In the last meeting called by Comelec, we already confirmed the participation of VP Leni in ALL of the Comelec debates, starting with the one on March 19. The formal written commitment will be submitted shortly. But to be clear: VP Leni WILL BE THERE for the Comelec debates,” Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez wrote on Twitter.

He also posted a screenshot of Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez’s tweet wherein Robredo was marked as “with verbal commitment” for the first debate scheduled on Saturday, March 19.

In the tweet, the Comelec spokesman said that former presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella, labor leader Leody de Guzman, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, former Defense chief Norberto Gonzales, and Senators Panfilo Lacson and Manny Pacquiao have already given their “written commitment.”

Aside from Robredo, presidential bets Faisal Mangondato and Jose Montemayor Jr. have also verbally committed to the Comelec debates called “PiliPinas Debates 2022.”

Former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the survey frontrunner, has not given his verbal nor written commitment. Earlier, the Marcos camp asked the poll body for the format of the debates.

READ: Robredo stresses importance of debates: ‘You can’t be a leader if you don’t show up’

Aside from a debate sponsored by SMNI, the network run by controversial Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, and the DZRH presidential interview, the namesake of the late dictator has been averse to attending media interviews and debates.

In an earlier interview over dzXL, Gutierrez said they would prefer if all candidates were given more than 90 seconds to discuss their answers.

At one point during the CNN presidential debate, Robredo had to “rap” her Covid-19 initiatives.

“Mas gusto talaga namin mas mahaba, kasi ang isang siguro hindi masyadong na-eemphasize kapag maigsi lang, 'yung detalye nawawala (We really want longer, because if there’s one thing that we don’t clearly emphasize when the time is short, the details get lost),” Gutierrez explained.

“Hindi naman mga simpleng isyu ito na meron lang isang madaling sagot (These are not simple issues with one easy answer),” he added.

The former lawmaker stressed that Robredo had never backed down from debates because she believes it is an important platform that will showcase the candidate’s plans, platform, and stand on different issues to the voters.

However, the Vice President was unable to attend the SMNI event because of a conflict in schedule.

Related Tags

Bongbong Marcos VP Leni Robredo Barry Gutierrez presidential debate Comelec
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