Candidates' Debate 2

I complained before that the debates were too tame. Last Sunday was a vast improvement. It's about time the candidates got into each other's faces. We even had our first televised incidence of Godwin's Law when Duterte compared Mar Roxas to Joseph Goebbels! A milestone!

So who won? I'd say Duterte and Poe won if only that they seemed the most likable of the bunch. Duterte probably won over people with his crass but funny comments. It sounds simplistic but it's probably true. Likability and charm is more important than actual substance.

The loser in this debate is the Filipino people, ultimately. As for the candidates, Mar didn't look too good. The other candidates were piling on him relentlessly. It really is a double-edged sword, this daang matuwid gimmick he plays. It only works if people buy into it. If people don't, then the track record of this present administration is one giant millstone tied to your neck.

Binay didn't look too good either. He caused the hour of delay due to his kvetching and the whole debate seemed to move too fast for him.

Miriam lost because she wasn't there but on the bright side, she "won" the debate on Twitter mainly because the others couldn't tweet her back in real time. If she had been there, I'm sure things would have gone from heated to explosive.

Sadly, no chairs were thrown.

Candidates' Debate

As snarky as this blog gets, I have to admit that the debate last Sunday was a good thing to have. It wasn't as grand as the ones they have in the U.S.A., but hey, the Philippines hasn't had one of these in a hell of a long time. Geez, when was the last? Twenty-five years ago?

I bitched before about how our candidates are virtually ideologically indistinguishable from each other. Well, it's still true but that's what this debate is for, right? It's a good opportunity for a candidate to set himself or herself apart from the rest. So how did I feel about them?

Miriam - Unsurprisingly, she goes back to her books every time she answers; always citing the constitution or some law. She's a debater and a lawyer at heart. I don't know if the average voter might find it too highfalutin. Still, you can't deny she's intelligent. People say she lost some of that fire she had in the early days but age and a fight with cancer will do that to you

Duterte - To some, he's the only serious candidate. To others, he's the comic relief of the show. Still, I like his insistence on adopting federalism although his support for the BBL is troubling. If you're going to adopt federalism, you should take care to get it right and not give the whole thing away to an unelected, unappointed, armed group that uses terror and violence.  He's the only one talking about federalism and I'm still waiting on the specifics. 

I'm sure his comments on his love life and killing people "legally" have been talked about to death already . His claim that he can get the job done in three to six months is outrageous enough to be impressive. If politicians are going to promise us things that probably won't happen, might as well go all out.

Binay - He sounded too much like a trapo and didn't do much to stand out. There's just something about the guy that makes him seem so untrustworthy. My mother says it's his small eyes that make him seem sketchy. I dunno. Could be?

Mar - Let me put it this way: if you've already swallowed the daang matuwid claptrap hook, line and sinker, then you probably found his performance energizing. If you didn't drink Pnoy's yellow kool-aid, then his performance wasn't spectacular. It was average. He was well prepared, I admit. 

Poe - She did well. It was helpful for her to own her own inexperience early on so as not to have it used against her. She sounded too pre-programmed for me. It's like she had all those lines in advance but everyone does that to some degree. She should hide it better. I wish she could have been more specific. Hell, I wish all of them could have been more specific but the time limit were too short.

Overall, I was disappointed with the debate. Yes, it's good we had it but I wish the candidates were given a bit more time and I wish the whole thing was more adversarial. As much as possible, the candidates should fight and really lay into one another. That way, the real differences would come out sharp. It was too tame is what I'm saying.

Somebody could throw a chair.