Pacquiao to Marcos: Let's do one-on-one debate

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential aspirant Manny Pacquiao on Monday challenged survey frontrunner and frequent debate skipper Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to a one-on-one war of words.

The one-on-one debate will give Marcos an opportunity to present his plans and programs, Pacquiao said.

“Baka nahihiya siya sa maraming aattend. Okay sa akin mag-debate kaming dalawa lang. Tignan natin kung ang plataporma niya, kung ano ang plataporma ko,” the boxing icon-turned-politician said.

(Maybe he’s shy when there are a lot of people attending debates. It’s fine with me if we will have a one-on-one debate. Let’s see his platform and my platform.)

Asked if he is capable of facing off with Marcos, the eight-division world champion said: “Lumaban nga tayo dito para sa mga Pilipino eh. Handa tayong sagutin ang mga tanong na ibabato sa atin.”

(We have fought for Filipinos. We are ready to answer questions that will be thrown at us.)

Marcos skipped a lot of poll-related fora and debates, including the event organized by the Commission on Elections.

His running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, was also absent in the debates held Sunday, prompting vice presidential bet Walden Bello to confront Comelec over what he called “weak” sanctions for debate skippers.

For Pacquiao, the public cannot expect accountability from candidates who do not attend debates.

“Mabuti na ‘yung recorded na sinasabi ang plataporma para pagdating ng panahon mahanapan natin siya,” he said.

(It is better that platforms are recorded so we can hold a candidate to account.)

Vic Rodriguez, Marcos' spokesperson, explained before that they are not keen on attending forums where candidates are pitted against each other, and would prefer programs that would give candidates more time to detail their proposed platforms.