(Eagle News) — The Commission on Elections has denied opposition Otso Diretso’s request for a debate of its senatorial candidates against Hugpong ng Pagbabago bets.
In denying the request, James Jimenez, Comelec spokesperson, said the en banc raised three reasons.
For one, Jimenez said granting Otso Diretso’s request would be “tantamount to giving preferential treatment to some senatorial candidates or slates.”
He said it would also “be practically impossible, logistically, to conduct meaningful debates involving all 62 candidates without risking allegations of preferential treatment.”
“There are considerable time constraints, with only about two months remaining,” he added.
The Comelec decision stemmed from the letter submitted by the Otso Diretso senatorial bets before the Comelec headquarters in Manila on Feb. 28.
In the letter, the opposition senatorial candidates urged the Comelec to facilitate a debate between them and the HNP, noting that the public “has all the right to know the platforms and positions on various issues” of all bets.
Davao Mayor Sara Duterte, HNP campaign manager, has repeatedly denied the request of Otso Diretso, saying she did not want to “share her light” with the “very depressing” opposition slate that was “fixated” on the debate.
“If the Hugpong-supported candidates are the sun, the (HNP) is the moon, they are like a black hole. Very depressing, dark and very disorganized,” she said.