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The efforts of the Arroyo administration and its
political allies to raise the level of campaigning to policy issues
deserves commendation.
They want to wean politics away
from the unedifying entertainment stage, where politicians win votes
because the voters have been treated to the personal appearance of
movie and TV stars.
After its mammoth miting de
avance in Cebu, the Team Unity campaign manager, Reli German, told
the press that from then on the TU slate will conduct its campaign
in townhall meetings instead of large rallies. He also made a point
of stressing that Team Unity will not use entertainment figures to
attract people to meetings and rallies. The focus of the
administration candidates’ campaign will be ideas, visions and
policies to continue the success of the Arroyo administration’s
economnic programs.
Last Wednesday Presidential Chief
of Staff Jose Salceda challenged the Genuine Opposition to debate
the real state of the country’s economy.
He issued the challenge in
reaction to an ad the opposition had placed claiming that the
economy during former President Estrada’s term was better than in
the years that Mrs. Arroyo has been president,
GO accepted the challenge and
said the debate should be held at Plaza Miranda. Team Unity said it
preferred to debate at another venue.
Some opposition personalities
have interpreted the administration coalition’s posture as a sign
that it is scared of facing the masses.
It might well be true that Team
Unity would rather have the debate in a less rambunctious setting
than Plaza Miranda—maybe in an auditorium with an audience of
businessmen.
After all, the latest Pulse Asia
survey result made public says the opposition candidates are more
liked in Metro Manila than the administration candidates. The survey
was conducted on February 10 and 11.
But most businessmen like
President Arroyo because she has made correct decisions to cause the
economy to grow unhampered for six straight years.
So it is easy to understand why
Team Unity would rather have the debate where more businessmen than
populist ideologues make up the audience.
The debate between Palace-backed
candidates and GO candidates must be properly structured to make the
exercise enlightening. Without the correct structure, and without
terms being previously defined so that each debater does not come up
with his/her own definition of a term, the debate or debates (we
hope there will be more than one) will not aid anyone in
understanding and thinking more clearly about the issues. Instead
the debates are likely to become shouting matches and emotional
oratorical contests that will only enrage true believers of either
side.
The US National Press Club
format
The structure and format of the
presidential debates used in the US by universities and the National
Press Club can be our pattern. Each side will be asked the same
questions by a panel of neutral experts. Each side will give its in
turn.
In expressing Malacañang’s
approval of the idea of having a Team Unity vs. Genuin Opposition
debate, Palace spokesman Secretary Ignacio Bunye even described the
debate as an opportunity for Team Unity’s candidates “to show
their individual and collective mettle, explain the national
situation from the point of view of this government and drive home
the message of hope and optimism that is keeping the economy strong
and sturdy.”
Understandably, the opposition
will try to shift the debate to other topics. It is to their
advantage to discuss the extra-judicial killings and other issues
that are embarrassing to the administration.
We think there will be no debate
at all if the opposition does not agree to limit the subject to the
economy.
A debate about whether the
administration’s economic policies and programs are correct will
give the opposition ample opportunities to question and prove these
policies to be wrong or badly carried out. Such a debate will raise
Philippine election campaigning several ladders—ladders, not just
rungs—higher than it is now.
Perhaps it will be the beginning
of a new epoch of mature Philippine politics.
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