Pacquiao wants face-to-face, not online presidential debates

Presidential candidate Senator Manny Pacquiao on Tuesday, Oct. 26, pushed for the holding of face-to-face presidential debates, which he said would be far better than conducted online.

Last May, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it was eyeing holding a hybrid form of presidential debates for the upcoming May 2022 elections as it sought to adjust to the “new normal” brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the standard bearer of the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban) faction of Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said he would prefer that the debates were done in person.

“Dapat (it should be) face-to-face, para magkaalaman... Mas maganda personal, huwag yung (so it would be known...it’s better personal and not) online,” Pacquiao said in an interview during his visit to Baguio City. “Bakit online? Ano, natatakot sila? Sinasabi ko sa inyo... ‘di ako papasok dito kung hindi ko alam ang gagawin ko (Why online? Are they scared. I’m telling you...I am not entering this fight without knowing what to do). Wala ako tinatago, sincere naman ako. Wala akong kailangan paghandaan na baka itanong itong bagay na ito, na tinatago ko...walang ganun (I have nothing to hide. I’m sincere. I have nothing to prepare in case I am asked certain questions or if I am hiding something).”

Pacquiao said he would only highlight during the presidential debates his platforms that are centered on economic growth and development, employment, healthcare, livelihood, housing, and anti-corruption drive.

“Una kong ipe-present, paano lilinisin itong gobyerno natin... at yung gusto ko na linisin sa corruption dahil ‘yan ang pinaka cancer sa bansa natin (I will present my programs on how I plan to cleanse our government. I want to cleanse it from corruption because that is the cancer destroying our country),” Pacquiao said.

On a different note, Pacquiao also expressed his support for proposals removing withdrawal as one of the grounds for the substitution of a candidate. He agrees that this provision in the country’s election laws has been abused by political parties. ‘Yung substitution na ‘yan gusto ko amyendahan din ‘yan dahil... inaabuso naman, siguro palitan, i-specify natin doon may substitution pa rin (I also want to amend that substitution rule because it is being abused. I think we should change it, but we need to specify substitution),” he said. “Pero dun lang sa kung namatay ang nag-file, nasiraan ang ulo hindi na makatuloy ng kampanya, o nagkasakit nang malubha, ‘yun lang siguro ang puwedeng mag-substitute (It should only be applicable if the candidate who filed suddenly died, had a mental breakdown, had terminal illness. I think they can substitute).”