PROMDI presidential aspirant Sen. Manny Pacquiao has asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to reconsider its position of giving in advance topics and questions to candidates in the forthcoming face-to-face debates.
He said these debates were meant to provide the people an informed choice about their candidates, the quality of their leadership, and their style of governance.
He reminded the Comelec that the poll body’s mandate was not only to ensure an honest and clean election but also to provide the electorate the avenue to make the right decision.
The presidential candidates who shun public debates and refuse to be subjected to full public scrutiny, he said, are obviously not ready to lead the country.
He said it was best for the Comelec not to provide questions in advance so that the electorate can truly get a sense of the “purity” of the intention of the candidates in seeking the presidency.
When asked about the precondition of some candidates that they should get in advance questions and topics before agreeing to join face-to-face debates, Pacquiao said: “You are running for President and then you are asking for questions. You should be ready for the questions because you are running for the President of the Philippines.”
Pacquiao said that the people should not entrust the future of the nation to candidates who refuse to participate in simple debates because they would take no responsibility for their actions.
These candidates, he said, without naming names, also have no intention to serve the public good and were only driven “by their greed for wealth and power.”
These days, Pacquiao said it was easier for the public to demand a performance audit on their leaders because “every promise they make is now recorded digitally and can be easily accessed by the public.”