WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
For the first time since candidacies were filed, aspirants for the presidency are coming together live for Panata sa Bayan: The KBP Presidential Candidates Forum on Friday, February 4, at 9 am Manila time.
Six candidates – Vice President Leni Robredo, Senator Panfilo Lacson, Senator Manny Pacquiao, former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, and labor leader Leody de Guzman – were invited to the forum mounted by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas. Marcos is skipping the forum, however, as he also did in similar events.
Get real-time updates, analyses, and fact checks from Rappler’s team of reporters, researchers, and editors as the forum happens. Make sense of the issues candidates talk about (or don’t) by bookmarking this page for the latest.
LATEST UPDATES
Isko projects presidential polish, calm under time pressure in KBP forum
Wearing a buttoned-up barong and sitting in front of the Manila City seal and blue curtains that uncannily resembled Malacañang’s press briefing room, Isko Moreno Domagoso at the KBP presidential forum projected the man he wishes to be: president of the Philippines.
The polish manifested in another way: of the five candidates at the virtual forum, Moreno was one of the few who finished his answers before the one-minute buzzer sounded. His good time management spared him from the awkwardness and humiliation of being cut off by the moderator.
The Manila mayor may have looked the part, but his performance in the presidential town hall had its mix of hits and misses.
Read the full story here.
Pacquiao in KBP forum: Big on promises, short on details
Senator Manny Pacquiao presented his so-called “22 rounds agenda,” a glimpse of what he would do if elected president, during the presidential forum hosted by the Kapisanan ng mga Broadkaster ng Pilipinas on Friday, February 4.
He promises to stop corruption, provide free housing, and give salary increases. He would also focus on the “health of the nation.”
The boxing-icon-turned-politician wants to push for all things nice: fewer taxes for corporations, more freebies from the government, and a debt-free country with good infrastructure and utilities. But how can he fund all that?
Read the full story here.
FALSE: Isko Moreno is the first to declare excess campaign funds
Claim: Manila Mayor and presidential aspirant Isko Moreno says he may be the first candidate to declare excess campaign funds.
Rating: FALSE
The facts: Many other candidates in past elections had declared unused campaign funds in their Statement of Election Contributions and Expenses.
Why we fact-checked this: Moreno made this claim during the Panata sa Bayan: The KBP Presidential Candidates Forum on Friday, February 4.
Read the full fact check here.
How to address insurgency? De Guzman will meet rebels’ demands
In addressing the decades-long insurgency, labor leader Leody de Guzman, an aspiring president, has a pitch: meet the rebels’ demands.
For his first face-off with fellow presidential aspirants, De Guzman said that by addressing the demands of the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People’s Army, the country’s problem with insurgency would be solved. De Guzman said he would particularly focus on land reform.
“Ang aking diskarte ay tutugunin ko ‘yong lahat ng mga demands ng mga New People’s Army na nakasulat doon sa kanilang dokumento. Nabasa ko lahat at napakamatarungan naman ‘yong kanilang kahilingan sa tunay na reporma sa lupa,” the Partido Lakas ng Masa bet said during the Panata sa Bayan: The KBP Presidential Candidates Forum on Friday, February 4.
Read the full story here.
Isko to tap satellite tech for speedy communications after disasters
Manila Mayor and presidential candidate Isko Moreno showed his tech-savvy side during the KBP Presidential Candidates Forum on Friday, February 4, when he proposed using low earth orbit satellite technology to ensure communications are quickly restored in areas devastated by natural calamities.
“We can access satellite, in the likes of Elon Musk, creating this low orbiter communication through internet,” said Moreno after being asked how he would ensure calamity-struck areas are not totally cut off from communications when they need assistance the most.
“‘Pag ito naging matagumpay (When this technology becomes successful), we as Philippines, as a country, must acquire these services,” added Moreno, stressing the need for “redundancy” in communication systems during disasters.
Read the full story here.
In a war of PowerPoints and buzzers, Lacson came prepared
“Huwag sasabak sa giyera nang hindi handa (Don’t go into a war unprepared).”
On Friday, February 4, the war zone for 2022 presidential aspirants was the forum mounted by the Kapisanan ng Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), and Senator Panfilo Lacson came ready.
Buoyed by a stable internet connection that crisply showed him in an ironed white shirt and a well-lit room with a Philippine flag in the background, and armed with a smartly designed PowerPoint presentation, Lacson – to follow his analogy – showed himself a fighter well-positioned in the battlefield.
Read the full story here.
[WATCH] In the Running: Panel discussion on the KBP presidential forum
Make better sense of the platforms, issues, and positions taken by presidential bets during the forum, and what former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s absence may mean with the help of Rappler’s team of reporters, editors, and thought leaders.
