Comelec to roll out presidential, VP debates starting February

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will conduct three presidential and vice presidential debates as it hoped for the participation of all candidates for these posts.

“We are preparing for the debate. We see high people’s interest in the opportunities where candidates will be facing each other and we would give them the opportunity to see that in a Comelec sanctioned event for everyone to attend,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in a virtual forum on Wednesday.

Jimenez said one debate each will be held for presidential and vice presidential bets which starts next month.

“We expect high participation from candidates when we stage the debates. Please look for the debates in February, fourth week, then another in March and April. One debate a month to cover the entire campaign period,” he added.

He said the events will be scheduled one after the other.

“It will be back to back. Today, (we hold the) presidential (debate). Tomorrow, (we have the) vice presidential. That’s three times. Participation of the media is open. At every debate, every media will be invited. They can broadcast it on air, all at the same time,” Jimenez said.

The poll body spokesperson added that for candidates who will not attend the discussions, the podium assigned to him or her will be vacant.

“If a candidate refuses to attend, their podium will remain empty. So we will make a big deal of the fact that they’re not there. I guess for a campaigner that could be a huge motivation to actually attend. So we were pretty confident that they will attend,” he said.

Jimenez said the poll body is planning to hold the debates in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

On the other hand, he added that a raffle will be held this week to determine the e-rally slots for national candidates.

“On January 28, we will have a raffle at Comelec to assign e-rally slots. We usually have a platform for candidates to speak but it needs to be scheduled. The schedule will be divided among the candidates, it will be known on January 28. So by February 8, (start of the campaign period for national candidates) they are already been arranged for e-rallies,” he said.

Jimenez added that e-rallies will be held three hours per night where each candidate will have a slot.

“For President, three candidates, 10 minutes each. The same goes with VP. It will be a cycle. The next three will have their chance the next day until the campaign period is over. It will be a regular channel for them to reach out to voters. For senators, five candidates will given five minutes, the same goes with party-list. Every night, candidates are allowed to speak. We hope we were able to present this 7 days a week,” the Comelec official added.

Earlier, the poll body launched the Campaign S.A.F.E. COMELEC e-Rally Channel on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/COMELECeRallyChannel) which will give e-rally airtime to all candidates for national positions.

The livestreaming will begin on February 8, the start of the 90-day campaign period for national candidates.