A MALACAÑANG official only had praises for administration bet Manuel “Mar” Roxas II while handing criticisms against the other candidates for their performance during the first #PiliPinas presidential debate held at the Capitol University in Cagayan de Oro City on Sunday.
At a press briefing, Presidential Communications and Strategic Development Office (PCDSPO) Undersecretary Manuel L. Quezon III twitted presidential aspirant Senator Grace Poe for supposedly channeling her running mate, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, during the debate.
Quezon used the buzzwords uttered by Vice President Jejomar Binay during the debate, saying that Binay showed “great determination” in supposedly steering away from answering the corruption allegations hurled against him.
The Palace official also noted the health issues hovering over Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago while on Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Quezon said, the feisty mayor was able to provide “moments of enjoyment” to the debate viewers.
“I believe that we should start by congratulating all the candidates for their performance last night. The Vice President for example showed great determination and great decisiveness in avoiding personal integrity as a qualification for the presidency.”
“Many people’s hearts were melted by the great personal courage shown by Senator Santiago in what was a very obvious great physical ordeal for her. I believe many people were impressed in the ability of Senator Poe to channel her inner Escudero to answer the questions. And the same applies for Mayor Duterte who was able to inject moments of enjoinment for a lot of the viewers, and who spent much time very graciously agreeing with everyone else that he was debating with,” Quezon said on Monday.
Quezon then praised Roxas for being the “best prepared” among the presidential hopefuls during the debate.
“Secretary Roxas showed that he was the best prepared, that he was able to meet the timelines, which is important because it shows you he could think on this feet, marshal his thoughts, boil down complex questions into answers that met the timeline. And I think people saw a new side of him that they may not have known in the past a side of great responsibility and great commitment,” he added.
Roxas currently trails fourth among the presidential hopefuls in surveys—after Binay, Poe, and Duterte.
During the debate, Roxas slammed Poe for treating the presidency like an “OJT (on-the-job training)” opportunity. The senator answered back that Roxas has been in three administrations but she still found irregularities in the agencies linked to her rival .
The administration bet, who once wooed Poe to be his running mate, also defended his performance during the supertyphoon “Yolanda” relief and as the secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications.
The debate, the first in 24 years and the first one conducted in Mindanao, was sponsored by the Philippine Daily Inquirer and GMA Network.
