Presidential candidate Senate Panfilo Lacson (left) and vice presidential contender Senate President Vicente Sotto III (right) during a press conference with local and national media in Daet, Camarines Norte on Wednesday, Mar. 2, 2022. (Photo from Lacson-Sotto media bureau)
DAET, Camarines Norte — Presidential candidate Senator Panfilo Lacson and vice presidential contender Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Wednesday criticized the plan of the Commission of Elections (Comelec) to release early the general topics of its debates.
“Ayoko [I don’t agree]” was Lacson’s quick response when asked about the Comelec’s plan to inform presidential and vice presidential candidates of the general topics that would be discussed in its own sanctioned debates in March.
“Parang nagbigay ng leakage. Para ano pang magbibigay ka ng exam kung magbibigay ka ng leakage? E di lokohan lang. Dapat mag-aral sila,” Lacson said, apparently referring to other candidates, during a press conference here.
(It is like having a leakage. Why bother giving an exam if the answers will just be leaked? We’re just fooling around here. They should study).
Lacson, meanwhile, stressed the need to have a candidate running for president and for other national positions to already have extensively studied the issues affecting the country.
“You’re running for the top positions. The president, vice president, and senators. Mag-aral ka. Anong gagawin mo? Magaaral ka pagdating nandoon ka na? Late ka na. Nagsa-suffer na yung mga kababayang bumoto sa ‘yo, saka ka palang nagaaral. Walang time sa pagaaral,” he said.
(You’re running for the top positions. The president, vice president, for senator. Study. What will you do? Study on the job? You’re already late. The Filipino people are already suffering. There’s no more time to study.)
“Mag-aral ka ngayon at iharap mo sa ating mga kababayan ano ba yung kaya mong gawin at hindi bola. Kasi yung iba magaling mambola. Ako natatawa minsan sa mga plataporma—di na ko magsasabi—pero alam ko hindi kayang gawin e. Hindi doable pero sinasabi pa rin,” he added.
(You should study now and present to the people what you will do and it should not be just for the sake of promising something. Because others have done that. Sometimes I find some of the platforms amusing—I won’t name names–but I know those platforms are not doable but they still promise to do it.)
For his part, Sotto suggested giving candidates the general topics ahead of time but changing them on the day of the Comelec debates.
“Ibigay nila sa mga candidates yung sinasabi nilang topic pero pagdating sa araw na yun, hindi yun ang ibibigay (Comelec can give the topics but on the day itself, those topics will not be the ones to be discussed),” Sotto said
Sotto added that Filipino voters should put their trust on candidates who have long studied the issues of the country.
“Yung mga nagaaral pa lang ngayon, dapat alam na ng mga kababayan natin kung sino yung mga nag-aral ng 30 taon. Yun ang ang pagtitiwalaan ko…pagtitiwalaan ko yung matagal nang nag-aral. Kesa ngayon pa lang magaaral, kung di binigay ng Comelec ang topic, hindi alam,” Sotto added.
(Those who are just studying only, the Filipino people should already know who have studied for 30 years. Those are the ones I could trust. I will trust those who have studied for a long time and not just someone who will just be studying now. And if the Comelec will not give the topic, they cannot discuss about it.)
The Comelec’s announcement on the early release of the general debate topics comes after the camp of former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said his attendance to the poll body’s March 19 presidential debate will only be confirmed “if his hectic campaign schedules permit.”
The camp of Marcos Jr. also earlier wrote to the Comelec and to the other presidential candidates, requesting that the format of the debate be discussed prior to March 19, including the issues to be discussed.
READ: Marcos camp: Attendance in Comelec debates only confirmed if ‘hectic’ schedule permits
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez, meanwhile, defended the poll body’s move saying it is “not unusual” and “unfair.”
“In any debate, even in the Pilipinas debates that we held in 2016, we did inform the campaigns about the general topics to be discussed,” Jimenez had said.