Comelec eyes moving Eleksyon 2022 debates to first week of March

Eleksyon 2022 candidate-debates may be moved to the first week of March, the Commission on Elections said Monday.

“Tuloy na po ‘yan, although baka medyo maantala, kaunti lang po, ‘yung sa first debate natin. Kung last week ng February po siya dati, baka maging first week of March na muna s’ya,” Comelec Director III of the Education and Information Department Atty. Ellaiza Sabile-David said during a Laging Handa briefing.

(That will still push through, however, there will be a slight delay in our first debate. Scheduled for the last week of February, might be moved to the first week of March.)

David explained that among the reasons for the delay was that the debate guidelines were still up for the Comelec en banc’s approval.

“It’s an ongoing process po. Ngayon, mayroon po kaming guidelines na pinapa-approve sa en banc and hopefully this week ma-approve na po sila,” she said.

(It is an ongoing process. We have crafted the guidelines, and we are waiting for the en banc to approve them. Hopefully, they will accept it this week.)

Apart from that, David said the planning stage with the media networks and the production teams was still ongoing.

Earlier, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said there would be monthly Comelec-organized debate for presidential and vice-presidential hopefuls starting February, covering the entire campaign period for the 2022 elections.

The Comelec official earlier said they were considering three “massive” venues for the event and they are eyeing to conduct it in Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

Jimenez had also warned Eleksyon 2022 bets who would skip the poll body's debates, saying they would leave the podium assigned to a specific candidate empty to highlight the absence.

The campaign period for candidates running for national posts starts on February 9, 2022. The campaign period for local candidates starts a month later - March 9, 2022. — DVM, GMA News