Since last year, I had been anticipating a face-to-face encounter between Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Panfilo Lacson, whom I believe are the two most qualified candidates for the Presidency. They are also the only two candidates who committed to an issues-based campaign devoid of mudslinging and black propaganda which is greatly to the public’s advantage. It was a disappointment when Lacson opted to not attend the SMNI debate along with the other Presidentiables, for one reason or another, but mostly because of the network’s principal, Apollo Quiboloy facing federal charges in the US and being placed by the FBI on its wanted list. The timing of these is very much suspect.
Nope. It was not a debate. Netizens had a grand time bashing the “CNN Presidential Debate” as it was advertised by the network. It did not even close to the quality of the SMNI Presidential Debate in all aspects. It was more of an open forum where candidates were asked beauty pageant questions.
The result was a lackluster forum with easy questions being asked the participants. There were some notable stupid questions as well like “where were you when the lockdown began?” Questions answerable by motherhood statements generally fall into the stupid category because what should be tested is the candidate’s ability to come up with a plan of action and implement it. Long story short, there were high expectations for those who have been in government for enough time to be familiar with the problems facing the country but they did not live up to the public’s expectations, in general.
Nine Presidential candidates heeded the invitation of CNN which was why the debate format was crucial. Dividing the time equally was important so that each candidate could be heard. But it can also be said that the participation could be limited to candidates who register in the surveys since what is the point of including those who are not even being considered by the public?
The result was certain questions were asked only of the candidates who matter while the rest were not. This was being discriminatory if you ask me since again, it would have been best not to invite them rather than insult them with this kind of treatment. But given the kind of questions asked, it is not a wonder anymore. CNN would have been better off going with a panel from the academe and NGOs but they did not. For what reason, only they know.
What really got viewers piqued were the signs that the questions were given to participants in advance. Isko Moreno conveniently had the photocopy of the BIR receipt for the taxes he paid on campaign contributions which he kept when he ran for Senator in 2016. The question not asked Isko is what about 2019 when he ran for Mayor? Were there no excess contributions? Isko pulled out the receipt from his pocket when questioned by fellow candidate Jose Montemayor over the alleged $15M donation given by Bill Gates to the City of Manila.
Then there was the object of the public’s attention. The incumbent Vice-President of the Republic. Lo and behold she was not being her usual self when answering questions. But the public became wary when it was obvious that she was reciting answers off a list. A lot of netizens noticed the inconsistencies and were live tweeting about them. By this time, a lot of them lost interest and stopped watching and did something else with the rest of their Sunday evening.
The CNN Presidential Debate turned into a forum instead. Some even went to the extent of describing it as an extended Q&A of a beauty pageant since the questions asked were devoid of substance and answerable by motherhood statements. Lost in the wash were candidates Abella, Gonzales and Mangodato. Abella and Gonzales shone in the SMNI Debate because of the absence of Lacson, Robredo, Pacquiao and Domagoso.
Post-debate, the rah-rah brigades of Robredo and Lacson were busy claiming that their bets ran off with the debate. In Robredo’s case, she walked away from the debate with bare feet, claiming that her feet had taken a beating since she was not used to wearing heels for an extended period of time. Leni is the gift that keeps on giving. Just when you think she could not do something more stupid, she always manages to. Imagine walking barefoot all the way to her van, as she would like the public to believe. Whatever went on in her mind that she did this of her own volition or accepted the suggestion from an adviser, leaves you wondering just how stupid she can be.
Then there was the usual justification for the suspicion that the questions were leaked to participants in advance. Robredo posted her “notes” for posterity on her Facebook account Monday morning after the debate. It again left pundits wondering what for? Individuals who participate in forums normally study on what may be questions asked. If you have a good head on you, you would not normally need notes.
Robredo took potshots at rival Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the forum. CNN aided and abetted her by mentioning the absence of Marcos, supported by the image of the empty podium with his name on it. Octa Research just happened to release their latest survey in the same afternoon and it showed Marcos keeping his large lead over Robredo. The bottomline is despite her campaign’s depiction of a bandwagon in her favor, with the number of endorsements and “hugely” successful campaign sorties in Cagayan De Oro and Iloilo, Leni is still too far behind Marcos.
It does not look good for any of the other candidate in terms of making significant gains against Marcos. Isko has been making a huge push with the appearance of Switch to Isko memes and more campaign sorties. The supposed support of part of the DDS which actively campaigned for Duterte in 2016 is relatively minor compared to the announcement the other day of former PACC Chair Greco Belgica that groups which supported the candidacy of Senator Bong Go are now going to support the UniTeam of Marcos-Duterte.
Postscript:
In typical moronic fashion, Leni Robredo denied that her removing her shoes after the debate was just a stunt and that the questions were given to candidates in advance. She claims that she is that good.
Loren in sneakers for the SMNI Senatorial Debate
Comments