Walden Bello: Cancellation of Comelec town hall debates a ‘Marcos, Sara win’

Vice presidential bet Professor Walden Bello on Monday said the cancellation of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) presidential and vice-presidential town hall debates favored the tandem of ex-Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

“The Marcos-Duterte gang got what they wanted: a cancellation of the final presidential and vice-presidential debates,” Bello said in a tweet.

Marcos did not join the first two Comelec-sponsored debates held on March 19 and April 3. Meanwhile, Duterte also refused to join the Comelec’s vice presidential debate on March 20.

Bello, who was declared persona non grata in Davao City, has consistently urged Duterte to attend election debates with him so they could discuss matters such as the allegations that Davao City was the "drug center" of the southern the Philippines.

Instead of the debates that were supposed to be held on April 30 and May 1, Comelec said it would instead arrange for panel interviews with each candidate. The interviews would be aired from May 2 to 6.

Bello slammed the Comelec for the shift to an interview, calling it “one big joke.”

“Each candidate will have a one-hour panel interview instead. This is really just like the e-rally. You'd be lucky to have 50 people watch it. This whole thing has been one big joke,” he said.

GMA News Online sought comment from the Marcos and Duterte camps over Bello's statements, but they have yet to respond as of posting time. — DVM, GMA News