CNN Philippines held a live presidential debate featuring nine presidential candidates as they showed the people their platforms and promises to fulfill for the future of the country on February 27, 2022.

Alphabetically, the candidates who participated in the debate were Sec. Ernesto “Ernie” Corpus Abella, Mr. Leodegario “Ka Leody” Quitain De Guzman, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, Sec. Norberto “Bert” Borja Gonzales, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Mr. Faisal Mangondato, Dr. Jose “Joey” Montermayor Jr., Sen. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao, and VP Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo.

Unfortunately, Sen. Ferdinand “BongBong” Romualdez Marcos Jr. declined the invitation from CNN and did not participate in the presidential debate. 

The debate started with the common and heavy topic called Corruption, the hosts Mrs. Pia Hontiveros and Mrs. Pia Webb asked the candidates two questions regarding corruption which are; “Has an instance of corruption happened under your watch and how did you deal with it?” and “Which government agency will you investigate first for allegations of corruption?”

The latter question was answered by the candidates through writing the government agency on a piece of whiteboard, the majority of the candidates had chosen the Bureau of Customs (BOC) while one of them Sen. Manny Pacquiao chose the Department of Health (DOH).

The topic then shifted to the COVID-19 Pandemic where the candidates were asked questions regarding their contributions, plans, and who would they choose to help them as they manage or lead the country during the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

In addition, the candidates were also asked “What will they do to keep our nurses?” The first to answer was Manila Mayor Isko Moreno who stated that once he becomes president, he and his vice president Dr. Willie Tan Ong would build 17 new modern hospitals all around the country so that the nurses do not have to go abroad since there are newly opened hospitals that are hiring for medical professionals.

The second candidate was Sen. Ping Lacson who highlighted the Republic Act 7305: Magna Carta of Public Health Workers that he and his vice president Sen. Tito Sotto III enacted where he states that they prepared many incentives for the nurses of the country such as discounts and those working at the private sectors, he stated that they would check the minimum wages to see if the nurses receive the necessary amount of salary.

Sen. Manny Pacquiao started his answer by pointing out that the first thing to do is to raise the salaries of all the professionals in the medical field. The next one is to improve the health services around the country such as building tertiary hospitals in the provinces and some of the cities that do not have any tertiary hospitals for the people to use.

Dr. Jose Montemayor Jr. counter-reacted to these answers and stated that those promises are just talk and what the people need is sincerity to the solutions and platforms that the candidates are saying. “And if these words will remain words walang mafufufulfill yan, we have to really love them with our heart…Hindi ako nasa bahay lang at naghihire ako ng abugado, ako mismo ang lumalaban para sa kanila [nurses] (And if these words will remain words nothing will be fulfilled, we have to really love them with our heart…I’m not just at home hiring a lawyer, I myself is the one fighting for them [nurses]),” he added.

The third topic digs a little deeper upon the platforms regarding the infrastructure development given by three presidential candidates namely, Sen. Manny Pacquaio, VP Leni Robredo, Sen. Ping Lacson. The question given to them is “How will you justify building more to Filipinos who are tired of traffic congestion?”

Sen. Manny Pacquiao, with his platform “More Skyways for Manila,” pointed out that building more Skyways are important to the people since Skyways deliver a huge help upon reducing traffic congestions. “Malaki po ang talagang lugi ng Pilipinas araw-araw dahil sa traffic na ito, bilyon po ang pinag-uusapan natin nsa lugi ng Pilipinas (The Philippines really loses a lot of money every day because of this traffic, we are talking about billions of peso lost),” he stated. Sen. Pacquiao also shared that he is tired of looking at the same problems through his years on the senate as nothing happens to resolve all these problems, that is why all those promises and plans must be done and not get ignored or broken..

For VP Leni Robredo’s platform named “More Roads for People and Not for Cars,” she justifies that the government should fund for developing roads for people who are walking, biking, and motorcycling since this would let the people travel at their own cost and convenience while reducing the traffic congestion on the roads used for public transports. She also stated that the rural development of infrastructures should be given emphasis, “Kaya nagsisiksikan dito lahat dahil yung trabaho [nila] nandito sa Manila, pero pag mag invest tayo sa mga kanayunan at may mga trabaho dun, ang mga tao ma-eenganyo na umuwi sa kanila (The reason why it is crowded here because [their] work is located here in Manila, but when we invest in the countryside and build jobs there, people will be enticed to return their homes),” she added.

Sen. Ping Lacson justified his answer with his “Public-Private Partnership” platform, “Kasi yun [PPP] private initiative so walang gastos ang gobyerno, kaya lang may toll ito sa ating mga kababayan kung saan magbabayad ng toll fees diba para sa paggamit ng kalsada (Since it [PPP] is a private initiative the government wouldn’t have to pay for it, however it has a toll on our countrymen where they will have to pay toll fees for the use of the road).” He also stated that the country is too centrally controlled that there is a lot of unused money for the other places around the country. He declares that this unused money should be given to the rural areas so that the areas would have the initiative to conduct infrastructure programs which should help decongest the traffic in the city areas.

The hosts then asked the candidates questions regarding basic goods and services, wages, excess campaign funds, and Russia-Ukraine Crisis. The topics then shifted to the West Philippines Sea and China issue where the candidates were asked “What is your Plan B in case your plans regarding the issue fails?”

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno with his “Increase of Military Buildup” highlighted in his answer to conduct peaceful means and negotiations to the other country when discussing this issue as to who owns the islands present in the West Philippine Sea. “We must continue to insist on the Hague ruling and we talk to our neighboring countries and try to make sense to the ones who are supposedly the ones who are occupying our islands…so we must seek peaceful means,” he added.

VP Leni Robredo with her “Multilateral Talks” delivers three backup procedures to this plan. The first one is the diplomatic procedure wherein the government will strengthen their relationship and communications with the other countries who share the same beliefs or insight to gain support and allies in case of any aggression. The second one is the informational procedure where the government will ensure unity between all the Filipinos. Lastly, the military procedure where the government will deliver funds to the Armed Forces of the Philippines to have credible defenses around the country. She also stated that the government would ensure that the economy would remain resilient and prevent the country from falling into the hands of its predecessors.

Sec. Bert Gonzales’ strategy upon the issue is to strengthen the country itself first before asking for help to the neighboring countries, the secretary also claims that he is an advocate for National Mobilization, “Hindi tayo mag hahamon ng gera, pero dapat ipinakikita natin na tayong mga Pilipino kung sakaling icha-challenge ay…handang tumindig sa ating ipinaglalaban. Kung ang Tsina mahal nila ang kanilang bayan tayo rin ay mahal natin ang bayan, kung gusto nila maggera handa tayong harapin yan kahit kulang tayo ng armas. The quality of our people is paramount (We are asking for war, but we must show that we Filipinos, if there are challenges, are…ready to stand up for what we are fighting for. If China loves their country we love our country too, if they want war then we are ready to face that even if we lack weapons. The quality of our people is paramount).”

The candidates are then shown the amount of 11.7 trillion on a huge screen where the hosts asked the candidates to write on a piece of whiteboard what does that amount means. The majority of the candidates wrote “Debt” or “National Debt” on their whiteboard, Mayor Isko Moreno and Ka Leody de Guzman wrote “Challenge” on theirs, while Sen. Manny Pacquiao wrote “Utang ng Bansa (The Country’s Debt)” on his. 

The host then asks VP Leni Robredo the definition of debt, here, she points out that foreign debt is not entirely bad for the country as long as we make sure that the funds received go to the programs or they will serve to be extremely useful for the country.

The next question given by the hosts was “How do you safeguard our growing debt?” Sec. Ernie Abella starts by saying that the people should fear the country having debts since, he then shares his plan on developing agriculture into a mega-industry where various establishments, universities, markets, and manufacturing create an “Agricultural Ecosystem” that supports the needs of vulnerable families as well as raising the rural income all around the country. Sec. Abella also informs the people that the number one cause of poverty is inflation which is caused by not having productive industries, “having said that, we need to be more entrepreneurial in our approach so that maingat natin out of poverty ang 23-26 million people, especially the 12.5 [million] hungry Filipinos (Having said that, we need to be more entrepreneurial in our approach so that we can lift up out of poverty the 23-26 million people, especially the 12.5 [million] hungry Filipinos).”

The second one to answer was Sen. Ping Lacson where he states that the solution is to balance the budgets and judicious spending. He also shared the issues he encountered regarding the foreign and national debt, “tuwing mag budget hearing kami, kinukwestiyon ko yung DBCC [at] yung DBM, sabi ko bakit ang ating projected deficit sa susunod na taon 650 billion, bakit ang lagi nating inuutang doble?” 

Dr. Jose Montemayor Jr. starts his answer by contradicting VP Leni Robredo’s and Sec. Ernie Abella’s response, “Wala pong mabuting utang…masama yan, we are mortgaging the future generation, kawawa ang ating mga anak kawawa ang ating mga apo (There is no such thing as a good debt…that [debt] is bad, we are mortgaging the future generation, take pity for our children, take pity for our grandchildren).” Dr. Montemayor emphasized that the debts received by the country only go to the infrastructure where the people just repeatedly destroy the roads and build them again. The solution to this problem will be by creating a safety net to prevent the debt received from the neighboring countries to end up to the useless spending of infrastructures around the country.

Sen. Manny Pacquiao, however, disagrees with Dr. Montemayor’s answer. Sen. Manny Pacquiao states that there is good debt and bad debt, good debt is when the government receives money and invests it on creating further income. On the other hand, bad debt is when the government receives money just for personal interests that would not have any contributions to the future income and savings for the country. 

Ka Leody De Guzman starts his answer by stating that the 11.7 trillion debt of the country was obtained by the traditional politicians, the political dynasties, and the other corrupt politicians of the country. His solution to the debt is to audit all the transactions and the money that goes to the corrupt activities of the politician should be returned to the government. “Kinakailangang ayusin natin yung ating sistema ng ekonomiya. Kung ang sistema ng ating ekonomiya ay import-dependent, export-oriented na lagi tayong lugi sa pageexport. Mababa ang presyo [ng pageexport] tapos mataas ang presyo ng pag-iimport, talagang mang-uutang tayo lagi kaya paunlarin natin ang ating sariling industriya (We need to fix our economic system. If our economic system is import-dependent, export-oriented we would always lose on exporting products. If the price [of exporting] is low while the price of importing is high, we would really end up always borrowing money that is why we need to develop our industry),” he added.

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno highlights that since it is a “challenge” it has to be confronted. His solution to this problem is to dispose of non-performing or under-performing assets of the state to decrease the service of debts done by the country, “sometimes you have to let go of these liabilities of the state to address a particular problem and this will the next challenging task of the president…we would confront it fairly.”

The debate tackled the topics relating to the future of LGBTQIA+ to their administration, the instituting of divorce, the endorsing of religious groups for the candidates, and the reason why they are running for president. However, the last question for the 2022 presidential debate was “How quickly can Filipinos feel your leadership?”

Sec. Ernie Abella declares that with his platform to create a fair nation, a government that is working, and a strong society. Under his government, there will be a balance of power between the legislation and big business through the active participation of civil society. The secretary guarantees that within the first 100 days, the civil society will participate along with the local government in strengthening the country. Here, the civil societies will help to look after law enforcement, trades, and bids which would make the people feel the action or receive the services of the government faster under his command.

Sen. Ping Lacson claims that in his first 100 days he will perform internal cleansing of the corrupt, undisciplined, and inept government officials to get rid of illegal activities that are happening within the government. He believes that one of the ways to remove corruption in the country is to show leadership examples to the people. The senator addresses that the future president must set the tone of his leadership to maintain a peaceful nation.

Mr. Faisal Mangondato promises that when he becomes president, he will put the country on autopilot, here, Mr. Mangondato claims that just like an airplane the government will run on itself even without the pilot. In his government, the professionals who are civil workers and the undersecretaries would have 10 years of experience and lead their administrations with their brilliant ideas that could resolve the problems regarding economy, poverty, and other national problems. “Ako ay magiging isang pangulo na…gagampanan ko ang aking tungkulin sa pamamaraan na mawala ang mga corruption [at] kahirapan dito sa ating bansa sa pagtawid natin sa federalismo (I will be a president who…will play my part in the process of eliminating corruption [and] poverty in our country as we cross over to federalism,” he stated.

Dr. Jose Montemayor Jr. starts by highlighting that the people should be realistic when it comes to conducting plans and platforms for the country. Once he becomes president, Dr. Montemayor would focus on the COVID-19 Pandemic. He also claims that once he becomes president, within 6 months to one year the country’s reemployment would decrease from 9 million to 3.4 million, job creation would decrease from 3.9 million to 2.4 million.

Sen. Manny Pacquiao declares that in the first two months of his presidency, he will create plans regarding his mega-prison. The mega prison shall house all the corrupt politicians and staff, especially those who are accused of blundering where he will create a law pertaining to a life sentence for those corrupt from the national government down to the local government to remove any acts of corruption and to deliver change within the country. The senator also claims that he will deliver livelihood programs upon the citizens to gain income and work for their families. 

VP Leni Robredo promises to the people on the first day of her presidency, she will release an executive order declaring full disclosure of government transactions wherein all activities shall be transparent or shown to the public. She claims that this will help the people see that the government is serious when it comes to a clean and honest government. She emphasizes that through this way, the people will be inspired and trust the government again which will lead the country to a better future.

Sec. Bert Gonzales plans to convert the country from a third-world to a first-world country. Unfortunately, Sec. Gonzales admits that this plan would take quite some time before it is achieved. He promises that within the first year of office, he will discuss various changes for the constitution of the country and perhaps the conversion of other regions into an autonomous one. The most important thing to do for the country is to convince the people to agree and to focus on one vision, a vision for the future of the country and for those to come.

Ka Leody De Guzman’s platform is to release the Labor-First policy where all contractualizations will be shut-down including power agencies. He also states that all the income of the workers located in the province shall receive the same amount of income as the workers located in the city areas. Ka Leody also claims to give more funds to the farmers for them to be more engaged and inspired to produce more food supplies for the country. The government will also control all hospitals, schools, and electricity to serve the people and not earn money from the people.

Lastly, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno promises that along with Doc. Willie Ong will prioritize the people’s life and livelihood in the first two years of their reign. They will create a government where the people can lean on the government to overcome this pandemic, a government that the people can trust and reach for help when they need it. The mayor also declares that there is “certainty and predictability” in their policies as they lead the country through the years.

The debate comes to a conclusion as the hosts ask the candidates to show their hands if they can publicly commit to a fair, honest, and peaceful election from which all the candidates raise their hands in confirmation to serve as a promise for the people and the country.