Duterte: I will not go to Comelec debates if local press coverage limited

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – To show sympathy to local journalists, presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte said he might not show up in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) debates here on February 21.

Local journalists here have been complaining that they were not given fair share in the coverage of the debates as the seats allotted for media persons are limited.

“I will not go there also if you limit the (press coverage). Why?” Duterte told reporters after his appearance at the thanksgiving prayer of televanglist Apollo Quiboloy on Sunday night.

Duterte, apparently not getting the whole picture of the issue, said he will talk to PDP-Laban president Sen. Aquilino ‘Koko’ Pimentel III about it.

The Cagayan de Oro Press Club said it will boycott the Comelec debates after learning about the limited participation of the local press in the coverage of the event.

The group said only five slots will be reserved for Cagayan de Oro-based media — five for editors/ publishers as audience in the venue that can accommodate only 500.

Only five newspaper reporters will be allowed access to the event’s media center– a separate venue where a video monitor will broadcast feeds of the debate, the group added.