For the third time, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has declined to participate in a forum either where he will either appear in discourse with other presidential candidates or be asked questions by an interviewer.
He first declined an interview by Jessica Soho citing her alleged biases, then later the presidential forum of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, saying he had a scheduling conflict.
According to the camp of Marcos, this time he is skipping the CNN-sponsored presidential debate on February 27 because of another scheduling conflict; he would rather appear on a forum on a network owned by a pastor who has endorsed his presidential bid.
Let’s get this straight; elections are not won on lost on the debates alone. They don’t even prove who is the better candidate. The most definite thing that can be proven in a debate is who can think faster and who can successfully defend his or her position when confronted with issues and other ideas.
However, a debate gives the voters a good idea how one behaves under pressure. How one thinks on his or her feet. And the position of the presidency is one that is always about pressure and thinking on one’s feet.
The more Marcos avoids debates or fora of this kind the more people will get the impression he only wants to be in situations where he or his handlers or supporters have full control of what happens. And we all know that the while president has authority over all Filipinos, he or she will never be in full control of any situation that comes along.
What exactly is he or his handlers afraid of? That the debate or forum organizers will deliberately make him look bad? That they will have prepared leading questions meant to expose his weaknesses? That Marcos himself won’t know how to answer some of the tougher questions?
If this is the way he thinks then he is giving them --as well as himself-- too little credit.
Again, debates can’t make or break a candidacy. But it gives people a good measure of how someone functions in a situation where the expected can turn into the unexpected.