THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday issued a final appeal to the presidential and vice presidential candidates to join the “PiliPinas Forum 2022” next week.
The Comelec earlier set a deadline of 5 p.m. Thursday for the interview series that it will hold with the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) but extended the deadline to noon today on the request of some of the candidates, Comelec Commissioner George Garcia said in a press conference held hours before the original deadline.
“We are appealing during this remaining hours before our deadline. Please convey your intentions (to join). This is really for you and for the people,” said Garcia.
As of Thursday night, Garcia said, only four presidential and three vice presidential candidates have confirmed participation. He did not name them.
The camp of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. confirmed he is not joining the event. Marcos spokesman Vic Rodriguez said the former senator recognizes the importance of the panel interviews but decided “to conclude the entire 90-day campaign period with visits to his supporters and compliances with previous commitments for political events, like town hall meetings and political rallies.”
Marcos’ running mate Sara Duterte-Carpio has declined.
Earlier yesterday, the Comelec and the KBP formalized their partnership for the panel interview sessions set to air from May 2 to 6.
Based on guidelines, the PiliPinas Forum 2022 will be a series of one-hour panel interview sessions between a single candidate or team of candidates (president and vice president), to be conducted by a panel of broadcast anchors drawn from KBP member-networks.
The main body of the interview will be divided into three segments, with each segment devoted to an interactive discussion between the candidate and the panel.
The first segment (10 minutes) will tackle inflation, poverty, jobs, wages, livelihood, and business. The second segment (10 minutes) will revolve around education, healthcare, and COVID-19 response. The third segment (12 minutes) will tackle a variety of current issues such as red-tagging, press freedom, attacks on civil society and on mainstream media, fake news, e-sugal, electoral reforms, gender issues, political dynasties, dealing with disasters and calamities, use of nuclear energy, foreign policy, judicial reforms, and appointees.
The interview may be conducted either live and in-person, live and via teleconference call, or taped as live with no editing depending on the candidates’ preference and availability.
The order of sessions, whether live or recorded, will be determined by draw lots to be conducted by the Comelec and KBP.
The interview sessions will be aired from 10 a.m to noon, from May 2 to 6, by Bombo Radyo Philippines, Radio Mindanao Network, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. (Teleradyo and ANC), TV5 Network Inc. (One PH and OneNews), CNN Philippines, and Radyo Pilipino, among others.
The PiliPinas Forum 2022 is the replacement of the foiled five-debate series, known as PiliPinas Debates 2022. This was after the Comelec’s private partner, Impact Hub Manila, encountered financial issues with the venue of the PiliPinas Debates 2022, Sofitel Philippine Plaza.
Garcia, at the “Laging Handa” public briefing, said Comelec has yet to receive an explanation from Impact Hub. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
