Ateneo Presidential Debate (opinion)

I was surfing the TV the other night and I stumbled on a debate about the presidential candidates running for 2010 at Studio 23. The debate was held on Ateneo last Monday in hopes of getting to know the candidates by 2010. Among those who attended were Sen. Francis Escudero, Sen. Richard Gordon, Sen. Mar Roxas, Gov. Ed Panlilio, and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.

I got a chance to watch half of the program as it was showed late last night and it was just by chance. Anyway, the moderator, ANC’s Tina Monzon Palma, gave three questions for them.

The First question was if the candidates would support an investigation of the Arroyo family’s corruption. The five who answered were I think a bit cliché since the Admin supporters said that if Arroyo’s guilty, then they should be punished; the opposition candidates on the other hand, said that judgment should be cast on GMA.

By this time, I was thinking that it was going to be one of those boring debates where candidates would talk and talk about the same problems and making the same promises all over again. I was really planning to switch channels by that time until the second question was asked.

The second question was about the positive contributions that GMA made for the country. I was astounded by Sen. Chiz Escudero’s answer that it made me clap my hands! He said that the only contribution that GMA made was to unite the country in choosing the right candidate, and not to repeat the same mistakes again. Dahil sa pag abuso sa batas, minulat at ginising ang mga tao para seriosohin ang eleksyon. Out of all who answered, Chiz’s reply was the best! It was true and hits the point without any palabok in his words!

Dick Gordon, on the other hand, said that GMA’s strong points were her work ethics, while Ed Panlilio saluted GMA on her projects in the environment (though he questioned if the projects were actually being implemented).

Whn it was Mar Roxas’ turn, I personally did not like his answer. He said that one positive point that GMA did was appoint him as DTI Secretary. Roxas then rambled on about his accomplishments, which deviates from the question. I thought to myself, ayan ka nanaman, pati bas a debate, nangangampanya ka nanaman? Though after a while, Mar linked his accomplishments to the support of GMA.

The last of the five, Sec. Gilbert Teodoro….hmm, just like any Admin allies, he said that Gloria Arroyo made a lot of contributions in the economy and in keeping peace and order in the country. I need not comment on his answer because there are many critics out there who can easily debunk his statements. One texter during the commercial break said that Teodoro was not for the defense of the country, but the “defense” of the Arroyo family. That text made me laugh since it may be true.

The third question was about the historical person most admired. Again, I sided with Escudero’s reply that there is no single person that is kapuri puri because all have their shortcomings. What we need to do is to learn from their mistakes to make ourselves better in the future. Chiz’s comment may sound a bit cliché but I agree with him.

Dick Gordon’s answer was his late father who died protecting his country. You can easily see his love of his father when he talked about his dad’s accomplishments. Teodoro, on the other hand, made a Miss Universe reply that he admired the everyday people since they are doing their best they can in their daily life. Ed Panlilio won’t be left behind with the Miss Universe answer when he said that his most admired persons were Andres Bonifacio and Jose Abad Santos. (And the winner is….. joke!)

I may be a bit skeptical on Mar today, as he said that his most admired persons were Cory Aquino and his dad. Way to get the Cory supporters Mar! (hehe sorry about my bias!).

Out of all the candidates being interviewed last Monday, and after hearing their answers on TV, the best candidate who answered the questions was, for me, Chiz Escudero and Dick Gordon. These two had something to say which not the standard chitchat of presidential candidates. Chiz was really witty with his answers and carried the reality of the situation, while Dick was very logical and impartial with his decisions.

There are actually many more questions and answers that happened that day, and some of those were said to be hilarious and entertaining. Too bad I was not able to watch the entire program, but I was satisfied with what I saw that day.