It may not seem as crucial as the presidential debates, but last Sunday’s vice presidential face off was just as important if only to allow the public to see for themselves as close as possible the people vying for the country’s number two post.
If people were entertained by the verbal fireworks of the last presidential debate, they didn’t come away disappointed by the vice presidential face off either as each of the five candidates came ready to stump and rail against their rivals, four of whom have extensive experience in the national political landscape.
Yet this didn’t deter Camarines Rep. Leni Robredo, the lone woman candidate and the least experienced of the quintet, from putting her best foot forward, and she didn’t disappoint as she answered questions thrown at her with grace and smarts.
If the vice presidential contest were to be decided on the basis of sheer volume of tirades and attacks, then Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano would have won the race hands down.
His relentless attacks on Sen. Bongbong Marcos stirred up a chord among critics and opponents of the senator’s family whose legacy of corruption and abuse spanned more than two decades and allowed others to join in, questioning the senator’s moral ascendancy and fitness to run for the country’s second highest post.
To his credit, Senator Marcos kept his cool unlike Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas who responded testily to attacks leveled at him by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
But Senator Marcos’s constant denials about his family’s legacy and his insistence that he had no part in it merely affirms and hardens the belief of those who say he will again raise the specter of martial law if elected to office.
Unfortunately, anything negative that has been said about Marcos and the constant campaigns against him have yet to dent his rising popularity as shown by the latest survey which showed him topping Escudero.
Senator Escudero’s sing-song, practiced delivery of statements during the debate has begun to wear thin on an electorate who increasingly sees him as not unlike an ambitious, opportunistic, smooth-talking traditional politician.
Which is a shame since he and Cayetano were at the forefront of the opposition against the Arroyo regime which ruled for the second longest period after Marcos and was beset with cases of corruption and questions of legitimacy brought by the “Hello Garci” scandal.
It’s hard to tell if the debate will impact or play a big part in influencing the choices of voters come election day.
But if there would be more candidates vying for the vice presidency in the next few elections, maybe the Commission on Elections (Comelec) would consider holding more debates for them.
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