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COMELEC OFFICIALS: AUDIENCE ADDED TO ‘ELECTRIC’ MOOD

Supporters fill up VP-debate venue and treat the event like a UAAP game


Because hundreds of supporters were allowed to enter the venue for Sunday's one and only vice-presidential debate, the event was the most raucous, so far, in the series of PiliPinas Debates 2016.

The debate was well organized, with the seats at the top level of the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion arena meant for the "general public." 

Seats were also determined by color-coded arm bands, with supporters and the general public differentiated by yellow, pink, green, purple, blue, orange, and white bands

 

 

Supt. Mannan Muarip, Sampaloc police station commander and head of the security detail for the debate, also told GMA News Online that only 3,000 spectators would be allowed in the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion, despite it having a seating capacity of 4,100.

Aside from supporters and the general public, hundreds of seats were also allotted for civil society organizations, organizers, and members of the UST community, including students, faculty, and alumni.

But, in the end, the biggest chunk of the audience that came to watch the debate were candidates' supporters—a different scenario from the past two presidential debates, where venues allowed for no more than 50 supporters per candidate.

The partisan nature of the audience was probably due to organizing network CNN Philippines providing “slots” on a first-come, first-served basis.

Also, aside from the 150 seats allotted candidate, some of the supporters who had trooped to the gates of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila were also given permission to enter the venue.

The arena wasn't completely filled when the debate began at around 5 p.m., but already things were lively. Some spectators even noted that the mood resembled a UAAP game.

And it just go louder after that, with opposing camps exchanging cheers and jeers, even interrupting the candidates at certain points.

Officials from the Comelec did not see this as a problem, with poll chief Andres Bautista good-naturedly characterizing the crowd as "lively but partisan."

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez even told GMA News Online, "[The] audience added to the electric environment due to their large numbers."

Admittedly, for all its volume, the back-and-forth mocking did not escalate into something else, and security problems were no worse than protesters from the Alliance Against the Return of the Marcoses heckling Sen. Bongbong Marcos.

 

 

The protesters, all of them young men, were herded out of the venue and were taken to the UST Security Office.

But only for records purposes, officials said, as no charges would be filed. — DVM, GMA News

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