Former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas joins other Otso Diretso senatorial candidates in visiting the tomb of the late Jessie Robredo in Naga on Feb. 13, 2019. (Photo by NOY MORCOSO / INQUIRER.net)
MANILA, Philippines — Candidates of the Otso Diretso slate will ask the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to facilitate a debate between them and bets of the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP).
According to an Otso Diretso statement issued on Wednesday, candidates Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, Marawi civic leader Samira Gutoc, former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, and election lawyer Romulo Macalintal will go to the Comelec office on Thursday, Feb. 28, at 11 a.m. to file a letter of request.
“The letter, signed by the four above-mentioned candidates and candidate Chel Diokno, also requests Comelec to set the rules for the said debate and assist the media in covering the event,” the statement added.
This development came after Macalintal and Hilbay called on Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, founding chair of the HNP, to craft the rules and choose the venue and time for the debate between the two opposing slates.
Duterte-Carpio retorted that she was not the secretary of Otso Diretso, questioning why opposition candidates were asking her favors when they were the ones calling for a debate talk.
“Sila naman ‘yong nagtawag ng debate, ‘di ba? I am a mayor of Davao City. I am the chairman of HNP. Hindi po ako secretary ng Otso Diretso,” she told reporters after a sortie in San Andres, Manila on Wednesday.
[They were the ones calling for a debate, right? I am a mayor of Davao City. I am the chairman of HNP. I am not the secretary of Otso Diretso.]
“Kung gusto nila ng debate, gawan nila ng paraan yan na merong third-party organizer, merong mga rules. Huwag nilang utusan ako… Ang sa akin lang, huwag nila akong utusan na gumawa ng debate na sila naman nagsabi ng debate,” Duterte-Carpio said.
[If they want a debate, then the should find a way to have a third-party organizer and have rules. Don’t give me an order… All I’m saying is that they should not order me to stage a debate when they’re the ones who want it.]
Recently, Otso Diretso candidates challenged their counterparts from HNP to a debate at Plaza Miranda in Manila.
HNP bets were unable to attend the event scheduled last Monday noon, as they had a prior scheduled activity in Meycauayan, Bulacan, and in Valenzuela City.
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The HNP slate is composed of reelectionist Senators Sonny Angara, Cynthia Villar, JV Ejercito, and Aquilino Pimentel III; former Senators Pia Cayetano, Jinggoy Estrada, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.; former Bureau of Corrections chief Ronald dela Rosa; former presidential political adviser Francis Tolentino; Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos; former journalist Jiggy Manicad; Maguindanao Rep. Zajid Mangudadatu; and former presidential aide Christopher “Bong” Go.
Meanwhile, the Otso Diretso slate is composed of Alejano, Gutoc, Hilbay, Macalintal, Diokno, Sen. Bam Aquino, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, and former Deputy Speaker Erin Tañada.
The majority of HNP candidates are also supported by Duterte-Carpio’s father, President Rodrigo Duterte, while Otso Diretso runs on a platform that is seen to answer issues hounding the President’s almost three-year-old administration. /atm