Marcos presence in presidential debates, forums on a ‘case-by-case’ basis, says lawyer

Mandaluyong City (CNN Philippines, February 4) — There is no assurance that presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos will attend all presidential debates and forums in the run-up to the May 9 election, his lawyer and spokesperson Vic Rodriguez said Thursday.

He said Marcos' presence in these events will be decided on a “case-by-case” basis in light other previous events that were canceled.

The Marcos camp previously said 68 of their staff tested positive for COVID-19, forcing them to postpone in-person activities and shifted to virtual meetings.

“Just imagine ‘yung two weeks kami na ‘di nakalabas. Saan mo idudugtong ‘yun [postponed activities] sa pag-open ng kampanya na 90 days? That’s two weeks. So isisingit at isisingit mo ‘yun. Why? Naghanda na ‘yung mga supporter, umasa na,” Rodriguez said in a virtual interview with the media.

[Translation: Just imagine the two weeks that we’re not out there. Where do you think can we squeeze in our postponed activities in the 90-day campaign period? That’s two weeks. We have to really squeeze in those activities. Why? Because the supporters have already prepared, they’re already expecting.]

Korina over KBP?

The Marcos team said the presidential aspirant skipped the Kapisanan ng Broadkaster ng Pilipinas Presidential Forum on Friday due to his tight schedule.

He instead attended a one-on-one interview with a cooking segment with host Korina Sanchez, which will be shown on TV and social media at the weekend.

“That is just but one of the many activities we have in the full schedule of presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos today (Friday),” Rodriguez said in a text message Friday afternoon.

Sanchez explained in a Facebook post hours after that the Marcos group picked the date and time of taping.

“We had no choice,” she wrote, raising speculations from some netizens that Marcos had the option to attend the KBP forum instead of the interview with Sanchez.

A number of netizens criticized Marcos for his absence in the KBP forum, as the #MarcosDuwagTalaga trended on Twitter Friday morning.

Even vice-presidential aspirant Walden Bello said in a tweet while showing a photo of Marcos cooking with Sanchez, “It’s better to cook than to be cooked.”

Ron Munsayac, spokesperson of the PDP-Laban faction of presidential bet Manny Pacquiao, said in a tweet the boxing senator also had an interview with Sanchez on Monday.

Munsayac added that while Pacquiao also has a daily busy schedule, it’s a matter of “kung gusto maraming paraan, kung ayaw maraming dahilan.”

[Translation: If you want something, there are many ways. If you don’t, there are many excuses.]

Rodriguez earlier said organizers of presidential forums and debates should not only focus on Marcos but invite all 10 presidential aspirants as well.

“Ilan lang ba ang in-invite ng KBP? I believe there are more presidential candidates out there, naiimbita rin ba? I think two or three guys are out there,” Rodriguez added.

[Translation: How many were only invited by the KBP? believe there are more presidential candidates out there, were they also invited? I think two or three guys are out there.]

One-on-one interviews over debates?

Rodriguez, however, believes the public would appreciate longer one-on-one interviews rather than debates and forums involving a number of aspirants.

He explained the interviewer can ask more questions while the interviewee, and Marcos can discuss his answers exhaustively in such setting.

“That’s our assessment, that’s our opinion. Mas na-a-appreciate ng tao 'yun,” Rodriguez added. “If the program is for an hour and there are five invited guests, tig-iilang minute sila?”

[Translation: That’s our assessment, that’s our opinion. People appreciate it more. If the program is for an hour and there are five invited guests, how many minutes do each of them have?]

Rodriguez cited Marcos’ participation in radio station DZRH’s presidential interview, where he answered the questions of a panel of journalists and experts for two hours.

“In that way, he can explain fully his stand or where he stands on matters that are of interest to the Filipino people,” he said.

Marcos, however, earlier refused to attend journalist Jessica Soho’s invitation for a one-on-one interview because of her alleged bias against the Marcoses.