MANILA, Philippines — Former Supreme Court Associate Justice and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said Friday that attendance in debates is a must for candidates running for presidential and vice presidential positions, since these venues allow the public to evaluate their qualifications.
Carpio-Morales, one of the convenors of opposition coalition 1Sambayan endorsing Vice President Leni Robredo's bid for the presidency, said this as a reaction to another presidential bet Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s decision to not participate in the upcoming debates held by the poll body.
Related Stories
"It is imperative — let me emphasize the word imperative — that candidates for these positions should participate in the debates," she said during 1Sambayan's virtual celebration of its anniversary on Friday.
"Debates [held] before the conduct of presidential and vice presidential elections afford voters and non-voters, for that matter, to fully assess the qualifications of candidates. They want to know their views, their opinions, their platform on how to govern and check the ills that have been plaguing and are still plaguing the country," Carpio-Morales added.
She compared choosing a candidate with that of a family driver who typically goes through an interview before being hired.
"You interview the driver. You want to know whether he is experienced, whether he has had several accidents or even if there are accidents [and] if the occurrence of these accidents could be justified. You want to know whether the driver has moral character because that is important, because the driver will be associating with you and your family," Carpio-Morales said.
"Like a driver, you want a leader whom you can trust, who can lead you, who can make you sleep soundly at night because you know that the leader is doing something not for self interest, but for the interest of the nation."
Earlier this week, Bongbong Marcos' camp said he is skipping the official Comelec presidential debate scheduled this weekend.
As of March 13, nine out of ten bets are attending the poll body's presidential debates, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in a tweet.
Marcos has been a no-show in several debates since the start of his campaign, as he previously begged off from the ones separately organized by GMA News, Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, and CNN Philippines.
1Sambayan — a broad coalition of pro-democracy groups — backs the bids of Robredo for president and Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan for vice president.