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
MISSING CONTEXT: Non-tax revenue constitutes 6% of the PH’s total income
Claim: Non-tax revenue constitutes 6% of the country’s total income.
Rating: MISSING CONTEXT
The facts: Senator and presidential aspirant Manny Pacquiao did not specify which year he was referring to, but data from the Bureau of Treasury showed non-tax revenues contributed 9.28% or P257 billion to the Philippines’ total revenues from January to November in 2021.
Why we fact-checked this: Pacquiao made the claim during the KBP presidential forum on February 4.
Read the full fact check here.
QUIZ: Who said what during the KBP presidential forum?
Presidential aspirants Vice President Leni Robredo, Senator Panfilo Lacson, Senator Manny Pacquiao, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso, and labor leader Leody de Guzman faced journalists from the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas during the Panata sa Bayan forum on Friday, February 4.
While the time limit given each candidate to answer questions was a bit restrictive (the long questions of the panelists were counted against the candidates’ reply time), the candidates were able to share their platforms.
Do you know which candidate laid out what plans? Take this Tiktok quiz and share your score!
KBP Presidential Forum: Your essential reads
The first forum to feature almost all presidential candidates, true to pandemic form, featured what many have had to get used to since 2020: connection issues, minor glitches, and the challenge of communicating effectively – both verbally and non-verbally – through a screen.
Challenges aside, during the three-hour KBP Presidential Candidates Forum, the presidential hopefuls who did show up had an opportunity to expound on their plans and address issues specific to them on what’s arguably among the biggest media platforms yet.
The Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, after all, counts more than 100 television and radio stations as its members.
Rappler unpacks what happened (and what didn’t) through these discussions and stories.
Internet glitch at KBP forum gives a peek into Leni Robredo’s crisis management skills
Imagine committing to participate virtually in a live broadcast carried by over 300 TV and radio stations nationwide – an event that may help get your message across to more people – and just as the program begins, you suddenly find out that your internet connection is spotty.
It would seem like a nightmare for most people, perhaps enough to make them visibly frazzled, but Vice President Leni Robredo somehow managed to pull through during the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas’ (KBP) presidential forum – giving the public a glimpse of how she might handle a sudden crisis.
Read more.
WATCH: Can the next Philippine president tax the rich?
Billionaires have the money, but can the next president push lawmakers to tax them more?
Watch this post-KBP presidential forum discussion with Rappler journalists and analysts.
[WATCH] All-male panel in KBP forum, no questions on women’s issues
“Women’s issues were not discussed at all. I think that’s the result of predominant male panel,” says Rappler’s senior multimedia reporter Bea Cupin.
Watch here her post-KBP presidential forum discussion with our campaign reporters, editor at large Marites Dañguilan Vitug, Regions head Inday Espina-Varona, columnist and On the Campaign Trail host John Nery, and columnist and University of the Philippines economist JC Punongbayan.
‘Sobrang limited’: Netizens sound off on format of KBP Forum
As the presidential bets took their turn to speak on several issues during the Panata sa Bayan: The KBP Presidential Candidates Forum, netizens were not shy to criticize the forum’s format as multiple hiccups happened during the program.
Social media users pointed out that those who asked questions to the presidential aspirants were men. They also said that the time for aspirants to answer questions from the panel – which was at one minute – was “very limited” for candidates to give their full thoughts.
Vice President Leni Robredo also had connection problems as she attended the forum in an office near an airport. She was supposed to visit areas hit by Typhoon Odette after the program.
Read more on what netizens suggested for future forums and debates from the KBP program.
In first face-off vs other bets, Leody de Guzman brings ‘alternative’ plans
In his first face-off with fellow presidential aspirants, labor leader Leody de Guzman reiterated his platforms anchored in his pro-labor and pro-people stance during the Panata sa Bayan presidential forum organized by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas.
De Guzman, who is running under the banner of the Partido Lakas ng Masa, maintained his anti-Marcos stance by reiterating that if he wins, he would order the recovery of the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth. Among his platforms is also the exhumation of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Read here for a summary of De Guzman’s platforms discussed during the forum.
Robredo vows no sacred cows under her watch
If she becomes the next Philippine president, Leni Robredo vowed to rebuild trust in the government and to end selective justice through an anti-corruption program that would spare no one, even her own allies.
“Kasama, hindi kasama, kalaban, kakampi, wala tayong kikilingan. Kasi oras na may kinilingan tayo, magiging failure na ang lahat. Kung may pinaboran tayong isang grupo, magiging failure na ang lahat na ginagawa natin. Dito nakasalalay ang tiwala ng taongbayan,” said the Vice President.
Read more.