Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will only attend “presidential interviews” and evade debate forums with other presidential candidates, his spokesman said on Wednesday.
“To my mind, sinasabi niyo sila ay mga applicant for the highest position in the land, president. Hindi ba kapag nag-aapply ka diyan sa inyong istasyon, hindi ka naman para makapag-debate sa management kundi magpapa-interview ka?” Marcos spokesman Vic Rodriguez said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel.
“It should be a presidential interview rather than a debate. Hindi ka naman makikipagtalo sa magiging mga amo mo. Magpapainterview ka, and let your bosses or management choose among the best, and let them decide. Hindi yung makikipagtalo ka sa management or sa kapwa natin aplikante,” he added.
Marcos has been criticized for being absent in presidential forums.
He skipped the Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews, a non-debate program, claiming that its host was “biased.”
Marcos also recently skipped the forum for presidential aspirants organized by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas due to a conflict schedule. It was later found that the former senator skipped the forum to guest in a cooking program.
‘Palusot’
Labor leader and presidential candidate Ka Leody de Guzman said Marcos was just making lame excuses.
“Hindi naman ngayon lang ginawa [ang debates]. Sa lahat ng nagdaang eleksyon, ay ginagawa ito. Kaya huwag nang magpalusot,” he said in a forum.
“Hindi lamang ‘yung gandang lalaki, hindi lamang ‘yung personal na karakter, kung di ano ang plano, ano ang leaning sa problema ng bansa. At kung ito ang leaning niya sa problema ng bansa, ano ang solusyon niya? Important ‘yun,” he added. John Ezekiel J. Hirro