Absence of bets from debates a ‘red flag’ for voters — Comelec spox

James Jimenez —PNA FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The absence of aspirants in the upcoming elections from debates could be a “red flag” for voters, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez said on Thursday.

“It could be a red flag for the voters,” Jimenez said in an online briefing.

While noting that the poll body “does not care either way if they come or not” in the debates, Jimenez said the presence of the aspirant is crucial for voters to know them better.

“What Comelec cares about is whether or not the public will have an opportunity to interrogate the candidate, so to speak. To interrogate their positions, to interrogate their beliefs and so on,” he pointed out.

The spokesperson, however, said that the poll body will not “gloss over” the absence of certain political aspirants in the debate.

“I think it’s very important in recognition of how important it is with the people, that we acknowledge that they fail to show up. It’s not going to be glossed over, it’s not going to be ignored, there’s gonna have a podium right there, with their name on it and no face above it,” Jimenez pointed out.

Comelec will conduct a total of six monthly debates in February, March, and April in still unannounced venues in Luzon, the the Visayas, and Mindanao. There will be no live audience, but television networks can air it simultaneously.

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