The “UniTeam” tandem of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio will be skipping the presidential and vice presidential debates of CNN Philippines to be held in UST on Feb. 26-27.
Marcos and Duterte-Carpio will be the only candidates absent from the event as the other nine presidential candidates and eight vice-presidential candidates have confirmed their attendance, according to CNN Philippines.
The presidential debate will be on Feb. 27, while the vice presidential debate will be on Feb. 26. Both will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Quadricentennial Pavilion.
The camp of Marcos, the son and namesake of the late dictator, cited a “conflict of schedule” for his non-attendance, while Duterte’s camp did not specify a reason.
Vic Rodriguez, spokesman of Marcos, said last week that the former senator would not attend debates, and attend only forums where candidates would not bicker with each other and instead talk about solutions to problems faced by the country.
Marcos has missed two presidential forums.
He skipped the Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews, a non-debate program, claiming that its host was “biased.”
Marcos was also absent in the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas’ presidential forum due to a conflict of schedule.
There will be four debates sanctioned by the Commission on Elections to be held this election season: three for presidential candidates and one for vice-presidential candidates.
