Round two: More debates fewer ads

THE Commission on Elections said on Saturday there will be less commercials in the television coverage of Pilipinas Debates 2016, the officially-sanctioned presidential confab, at the University of the Philippines campus in Cebu City on Sunday. “We will be having three hours of debate and there will be fewer commercials compared to the previous debate,” Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said amid earlier complaints that the first debate in Cagayan de Oro last month had too many advertisements and too little talk time. “There will be two parts,” Bautista said. “The first segment will involve a panel of journalists throwing questions at the candidates, while the second part will give candidates the opportunity to ask each other questions.” But all questions will fall under the agreed themes, which include corruption and climate change adaptation, among others, Bautista said. “I think a three-hour program run is indeed an improvement and we have made adjustments in the allocated time for responses and rebuttals in consultation with the representatives of the campaign teams,” he said. The debate will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, and will be aired on TV 5 which will start its pre-debate program at 4:30 p.m. Except for Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, all candidates—Vice President Jejomar Binay of United Nationalist Alliance, former interior secretary Manuel Roxas II of the Liberal Party, independent candidate Senator Grace Poe and Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of PDP-Laban—are expected to attend the debate.

Santiago announced on Thursday she will not be joining the second debate because she will undergo a clinical trial for a new anti-cancer pill. But Santiago, like all other candidates, will be allowed 15 supporters to get inside UP Cebu’s Performing Arts Hall, which has a capacity of only 500 people. Binay tried to keep a step ahead of his rivals by preparing for the debate while he was holed up “incommunicado” in a resort in Mactan. Just like in Cagayan de Oro during the first round of the presidential debate last month, Binay came to the debate venue two days ahead of his rivals. Binay’s closest rival Senator Grace Poe of Partido Galing at Puso, upon arrival, went straight to barnstorm the city and province in areas where Binay passed through two days ago. But an independent vice presidential candidate, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., mounted his own sorties befitting a presidential campaign even a day ahead of other presidential candidates. Marcos went solo barnstorming the city and province with his own convoy in a motorcade. His standard bearer Santiago had to beg off from the debate and campaign sorties due to health reasons. “She has signified that she is not coming. We had planned to be together during the campaign. That was always the original plan. But I suppose her health issues have overtaken her and she has just to attend to that. And I think that she would be able to overcome this new obstacle and she will be joining us in the campaign soon enough,” Marcos told reporters during an ambush interview at the Waterfront Hotel, where he was billeted. Poe and her entourage were also billeted at the same hotel as Marcos’ since the hotel is owned by the family of senatorial candidate Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian, whose younger brother Valenzuela City Rep. Rex Gatchalian is Poe and Senator Francis Escudero’s campaign spokesman, and youngest brother Alay Buhay Rep. Wes Gatchalian was overheard during breakfast barking orders to hotel staff to prepare Poe’s room and to make sure she will have her “welcome basket of fruits.” Escudero went with Poe in barnstorming the city. “The ideal is for us to campaign together. But I think the other factor is that this election is different and that most of the candidates are campaigning individually be they presidential, vice presidential or even senatorial candidates—most if not all are campaigning individually,” Marcos said of Santiago. “So that seems to be the trend for this campaign, for this election. So I suppose it should not affect the campaign so much, seeing there is a new style of campaign that we have adopted for this election,” he added. Poe also went to Indiana Aerospace University in Cebu as guest of honor at the school’s graduation rites. Poe told Cebuanos she was a Visayan at heart, claiming she was found in the Visayas, particularly in Iloilo, also a known bailiwick of another rival, former Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II, standard bearer of the ruling Liberal Party. At lunch, Binay shared a light moment with vendors of sugba-tuwa-kilaw (grilled, stewed and raw seafood) stalls in Lapu-Lapu City. He was joined by UNA senatorial candidates broadcaster Rey Langit, former Special Action Force director Getulio Napeñas, Sulu Princess Jacel Kiram, Parañaque councilor Alma Moreno and Kabayan party-list candidate lawyer Harry Roque. On the eve of the debate, Binay issued a statement giving a preview of what he was to provide the country regarding health care, one of the topics to be explored in the debate. Binay vowed to increase the health budget by five percent of GDP or gross domestic product, as was the standard requirement of the World Health Organization. He vowed to impose a “yellow card” policy that would make children and elderly avail of free health care. The Yellow Card program has been recognized by the United Nations-Habitat as one of the world’s best practices. “This will allow government to provide free medical treatment for serious illnesses that require prolonged hospitalization and often expensive treatments. It also replicates Makati’s globally-recognized Yellow Card health program that has significantly reduced out-of-pocket expenses for health care,” Joey Salgado, UNA campaign communications director, said. Salgado said these serious illnesses include leukemia, early stage breast cancer, prostate cancer, kidney transplant, heart disease and cervical cancer. Salgado cited data from the National Statistical Coordination Board that showed Filipino households still carry most of the spending burden for health care, despite total spending for health care increasing by 11.7 percent year on year to P526.3 billion in 2013. Private out-of-pocket spending accounted for 56.3 percent of the total or some P296.5 billion. Meanwhile, each Filipino spent P5,360 for health-related expenses in 2013—a 9.8-percent increase from P4,881 per capita expenditure recorded in 2012.

Christine F. Herrera