Organizing a total of six debates for presidential and vice presidential candidates in the next three months before the May 9 elections has proven too much to handle for the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
The Comelec education and information department has dropped its plan approved in October last year to hold three vice presidential debates â the same number for presidential candidatesâand will return to having just one debate for those seeking the second highest office.
The department has recommended to the Comelecâs policy-making commissioners to approve three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate, which were the same numbers of official debates held during the 2016 elections.
Jimenez announced last October that the Comelec would hold the three presidential debates and the equal number of debates for the vice presidential candidates.
However, unlike in 2016 when the Comelec allowed independent media outlets to host the three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate, this time the poll body has taken upon itself the task of organizing the activities.
The Comelec already postponed the first of the three presidential debates from the last week of February to the first week of March, saying it needed more time to organize them.
âThere are a lot of COVID-19 concerns, a lot of negotiations still to be done with the candidates. So we decided not to rush. The latest we will start (the presidential debate) is on March 6 or 7,â Jimenez said.
The Comelec earlier urged presidential and vice presidential aspirants to participate in debates.
He said the absence of aspirants in the upcoming elections from debates could be a âred flagâ for voters.
While noting that the poll body âdoes not care either way if they come or notâ in the debates, Jimenez said the presence of the aspirant was crucial for voters to know them better.
The spokesperson, however, said that the poll body would not âgloss overâ the absence of certain political aspirants in the debate. (©Philippine Daily Inquirer 2021)
