The Commission on Elections and Vote Pilipinas signed a memorandum of agreement on March 7 in Pasay City to stage the Pilipinas Debates. (Screengrab from Comelec’s Facebook page)
STA ROSA, LAGUNA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) could wait for the confirmation of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. until the day of debates, poll body spokesperson James Jimenez said here on Monday.
“If they come on the day of the debate, they will not be turned away,” Jimenez said in an ambush interview when asked how long they would wait for Marcos and his running mate Davao mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio to confirm their participation in the PiliPinas Debates 2022.
Of 10 presidential candidates, only Marcos has not made any confirmation —whether in writing or verbally — if he will attend the Comelec-organized debates, with his spokesperson saying that his attendance would depend on their schedule.
Duterte-Carpio also said she will not join debates throughout the campaign period.
But Comelec has yet to receive any written refusal of its invitation yet.
“We don’t have our written refusal yet. Until we get that, we are not calling it quits with them. So we think that, some people will take a little longer to come to the decision, we are willing to wait. It is very interesting to see if they will be there,” said Jimenez
No less than Sen. Imee Marcos advised her brother that he should come to some of the debates, saying he could answer all the accusations hurled against their family.
So far, Marcos had skipped the debates and forum organized by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas and CNN Philippines, as well as Jessica Soho’s presidential interview. However, the leading presidential candidate chose to attend the debates organized by SMNI, a network owned by Pastor Apollo Quiboloy who had recently endorsed Marcos and Duterte-Carpio’s candidacies.
The first presidential PiliPinas Debate would be held on March 19 at the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City.
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