Presidential, Vice Presidential Debates To Feature Unique Component

MANILA, Philippines — The debates the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has scheduled next month for the presidential and vice presidential candidates will have a “unique component,” the poll body’s spokesman James Jimenez said.

This component, the “back-to-back” town hall meeting of “Pilipinas Debates 2022,” will have both remote and in-person audience, which contrasts the other debates that would have no live audience, he explained.

It will also have a post-debate roundtable and would follow a double-moderator format.

According to Jimenez, the Pilipinas Debates 2022 would be held on April 23 and 24, or more than a month after the first presidential and vice presidential debates on March 19 and 20.

A follow-up presidential debate will be held on April 3.

“This is a high-stakes event that the voting public has been fervently looking forward to, so we expect all candidates to be on deck and ready to demonstrate why they deserve our vote,” Jimenez said in a statement sent to reporters on Viber yesterday.?He added that the Comelec would sign an agreement with Vote Pilipinas – a non-profit, non-partisan online and offline information campaign group and official voter information campaign partner – on Monday.

Once signed, the details and mechanics of Pilipinas Debates 2022 can be shared with the public, Jimenez said.

He hinted though that the presidential and vice presidential debates would be anchored on a set of predetermined topics on pressing concerns of the country, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy, while the pool of questions will come from concerned sector groups.

Jimenez said the three-hour debates would follow a single-moderator format with no live audience. Candidates would have to draw lots to determine to whom the first question will be asked. The succeeding questions will be answered by the candidates who will be called in alphabetical order.

He added that Comelec and Vote Pilipinas would work closely in the rigorous selection process for moderators and to exercise utmost confidentiality in sourcing debate questions from the different sector groups.