Philippine candidates grilled on poverty and crime in rare debate
Date
2/22/2016 12:05:09 AM
(MENAFN- Asia Times) (from left) Vice President Jejomar Binay Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago Mayor Rodrigo Duterte Sen. Grace Poe and former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas after a presidential candidates debate held in Cagayan de Oro city Feb. 21
The five aspirants addressed personal issues including graft allegations womanizing incompetence a bout with lung cancer and a lack of experience as they squared off Sunday in a nationally televised debate ahead of the May 9 presidential election. Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista said the two-hour debate the first to be organized by the commission in 24 years aimed to shift the public’s focus toward policy talk and programs to confront social ills. Voters being swayed more by personalities patronage politics and showbiz-like campaigns have long been a concern in the Philippines which continues to grapple with widespread poverty Marxist and Muslim insurgencies corruption and other major problems three decades after toppling a dictatorship through a “people power” revolt. Read More
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