Mar Roxas wins first presidential debate in Mindanao
by Jose Rizal M. Reyes / updated February 22, 2016
He looked somewhat pale or ashen, maybe due to the makeup they applied to the presidentiables before they faced the camera. But based on the performance by the five candidates during the presidential debate held yesterday at the Capitol University in Cagayan de Oro City, former DILG Secretary Mar Roxas is the clear winner — the surprise winner — in the said debate.
The Cagayan de Oro verbal konfrontasi is part of a series of presidential and vice presidential debates collectively dubbed as “PiliPinas Debates 2016”, an official project of the COMELEC in cooperation with several media partners. One news site described the debate in Mindanao as “the first presidential debate in 24 years”. If that is true, it means the last presidential debate was held during the 1992 presidential election and none was held in 1998, 2004 and 2010.
Surprisingly, Roxas was quick-thinking and articulate. He was also calm and collected. Exuding a grave demeanor, he ably managed the time limit, giving a complete answer almost on the dot, give or take a second or two. He talked with substance, complete with statistics and his own experience in public service. He drove home his points and stuck some little knives into his opponents’ bellies. He crossed swords with the other candidates, particularly the vice president and the Davao City mayor, but he held his own against them.
Most astounding of all, Roxas achieved the feat while adopting as a theme the Daang Matuwid (Straight Path) catchphrase of Mr. Noynoy Aquino and the Liberal Party all throughout the debate. Personally, I regard Daang Matuwid as a dead horse. But somehow, while Roxas was talking, it appeared alive and kicking.
Coming in second is Sen. Grace Poe who was herself quite articulate and discussed the issues well enough both in English and flowing Tagalog. She had the freshest appearance among the five candidates, and it was not just because of her young age but there was something else, something intangible, something like enthusiasm. She parried the issue of having the thinnest resume among the candidates as best as she could. Overall, she came prepared and looked like someone who is looking forward to winning the presidential election.
Could it be because she was being rumored to be the fallback position of the Liberals in case Mar’s candidacy wouldn’t take off? Or could it be that she was simply so happy because she was able to participate in the presidential debate despite the disqualification case against her, a participation which helped legitimize her candidacy?
Third in my list of best performers is Vice President Jejomar Binay. Binay finally joined a public debate after his aborted November 2014 debate with Sen. Antonio Trillanes. That, by itself, is an achievement and should be taken as part of the context for this event. Inasmuch as the Mindanao debate is a five-way rumble, not a one-on-one debate, Binay was able to finish the debate virtually unscathed. The dynasty and corruption issues were brought up and both fell on Binay’s lap to discuss but no solid damage was inflicted on him as a result.
After one year of a crushing demolition job against him during which he had to back out from a public debate with someone like Trillanes — who possesses a military background unlike Binay who is a lawyer and should be skilled in argumentation — the vice president’s presidential aspiration is alive and resurgent. His resilience and staying power are being attributed to his core supporters, hovering around 20% of the electorate, who stuck with him through thick and thin. He even leads the presidential pack in recent surveys.
During the presidential debate, Binay harped on what is perceived as his strongest suit — poverty alleviation and social services. He pinned the country’s problem on indecisive and ineffective leadership. He said that there is a problem but no solution is being applied. He contrasted this with what he claimed as his able leadership in Makati. Roxas argued that there are two Makatis — one rich, the other poor — but Binay disputed this.
Overall, I rate the debate performance of Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Miriam Santiago as about even. Duterte was in his best behavior throughout the debate. Look, Ma, no expletives! Duterte was oftentimes agreeing with what the other candidates had said instead of arguing with them. He said that the problem is in the implementation along the way, which is being adversely affected by incompetence and corruption. He repeated his favorite line — that if elected president, he would solve the country’s problems within three to six months.
Duterte at one point had an earnest argument with Roxas — one of the sharpest exchanges in an otherwise amicable five-way presidential debate. The Davao City mayor, taking a dig at Roxas, commented: “Wala naman akong nakitang tuwid na daan, puro kulubot man yan.” (“I haven’t seen any straight path, everything is wrinkled”). He could have delivered a more telling blow if he used the word “baluktot” (“crooked”) instead of the awkward “kulubot” (“wrinkled”).
Duterte and Roxas clashed over the Mindanao budget, an issue that Roxas was able to neutralize — partly because Duterte helped confuse matters by citing figures for Region 11 only instead of the whole Mindanao, and partly because he failed to challenge Roxas’ assertion that Mindanao got twice the amount of infrastructure budget during the last five years (under Pres. Benigno Aquino III) than the previous 12 years (under Pres. Joseph Estrada and Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo).
Miriam Santiago didn’t look fresh and had nothing fresh to say nor offer, a far cry from her front-running status and charismatic aura when she first ran for the presidency in 1992. She is not doing well in the surveys and national debates like this is a golden opportunity for someone with her legal background, intellectual brilliance, oratorical skills and long experience to change her electoral fortune. But it didn’t happen that way. Besides, the format of the highly structured, compartmentalized and time-restricted debate did not give free rein to her intelligence and erudition.
Maid Miriam made some good points about qualifications of candidates in her closing statement. But she looked tired and worn out. There seemed to be no fight left in her. Old age can make a politician look sagely and statesmanlike, but not in her case. She didn’t look presidential at all — maybe due to some sickness, maybe due to an absence of a lofty cause to honestly and vigorously fight for, or maybe due to a lack of enthusiasm due to her poor rating in surveys which also means lower amounts of campaign funds coming her way.
Chairman Andres Bautista of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) attended the presidential debate in Cagayan de Oro. He later expressed deep satisfaction with how the presidential debate went, calling it “a world-class event both in terms of substance and form.”
Bearing in mind past and present US presidential debates, I am inclined to agree with the verdict of Chairman Bautista. We have to give it to the five presidentiables — they performed well overall despite the time pressure. There was no Alma Moreno moment during the Cagayan de Oro debate. Nobody committed any serious gaffe, not even Duterte who is known for his controversial candid statements complete with expletives. This is more than what can be expected from a presidential field that is widely considered as lacking in choices on the part of the electorate.
I mentioned earlier “past and present US presidential debates”. Let me add and explain that I don’t hold the American model as the standard on presidential debates in any way. In fact, I regard it as substandard for a superpower and champion of democracy. Therefore, if I were to use a higher standard, I would regard the Cagayan de Oro debate as substandard itself. Nevertheless, as the world goes as of now — and perhaps because we came to think so lowly of our politicians — maybe we were simply amazed or had this collective feeling of relief that our top politicians somehow made sense in what they were saying and that they could discuss issues intelligently enough under tremendously pressured circumstances.
How did this presidential debate come about? Last January 13, COMELEC signed an agreement with various media firms regarding the hosting of the 2016 presidential and vice presidential debates. The first presidential debate held yesterday in Mindanao was hosted by GMA Network Inc. and the Philippine Daily Inquirer. TV5 and the Philippine Star will host the Visayan leg of the presidential debates on March 20 in Cebu. ABS-CBN and the Manila Bulletin are in charge of hosting the Luzon leg on April 24.
There will be one vice presidential debate to be held in Metro Manila on April 10, to be hosted by CNN Philippines together with Rappler and Business Mirror.
