MANILA – Memo to candidates: if you bring a
celebrity to a debate, expect celebrity to steal some of the thunder during the
show.
A small crowd gathered at the end of the
ABS-CBN “Harapan 2013” debates past midnight on Monday, just as the 12
senatorial candidates came down from the platform.
However, a lot of the onlookers were not
looking at the candidates but at one person seated near the front: celebrity
Richard Yap, more popularly known as “Ser Chief” of the popular ABS-CBN morning
soap opera “Be Careful With My Heart.”
Yap attended the Harapan debates to show
support for Team PNoy candidate and former Senator Ramon “Jun” Magsaysay Jr.
Magsaysay is the only candidate being endorsed
by Yap in the May 13 elections.
Yap gamely posed for some photos and then
escaped from the crowd after guards escorted him through a different exit.
Magsaysay later said the actor had been staying at the venue since 8 p.m. and
had to leave.
Asked why “Ser Chief” decided to endorse him,
Magsaysay said Yap’s wife is a close friend of his former chief of staff.
“He checked my background and platform and then
agreed to endorse me. He is doing it for free,” he told ABS-CBNnews.com.
Magsaysay admitted that Yap’s popularity can
draw a crowd. During the event, some of the onlookers kept moving nearer to the
front just to catch a glimpse of the famous actor.
Bam has largest crowd, Risa has
loudest
A total of 12 candidates attended the live
debates at La Consolacion College in Manila. The 12 are Bam Aquino, Risa
Hontiveros, Jun Magsaysay and Koko Pimentel from the administration-backed Team
PNoy coalition, Ernesto Maceda and Mitos Magsaysay of the United Nationalist
Alliance, Rizalito David, Marwil Llasos and JC delos Reyes of Ang Kapatiran,
Teddy Casino of Makabayan Coalition, Edward Hagedorn and Ramon Montano.
Aquino easily drew the biggest crowd of
supporters, numbering around 110 people including members of the Filipino
Liberal Youth. Around 100 members of the People Power Volunteers for Reform
also showed up to lend support for both Aquino and Hontiveros.
Other candidates who drew a large crowd of
supporters were Casino (79-81 people), Pimentel (56), Maceda (50), Jun
Magsaysay (50) and the Ang Kapatiran party bets (50).
While Aquino had the larger crowd, it was
Hontiveros who had the loudest supporters and cheered every time she gave an
answer during the debates. Her supporters also had the largest handheld tarps
during the event.
Few fireworks
There were very few fireworks during the
debates since the candidates were given a limited time to answer the questions.
During the “paspasan” rounds, the candidates
were given 15 seconds each about their stand on issues such as the divorce
bill, the lowering of the age of discernment in the juvenile justice law, and
if religious groups should endorse candidates.
Of the 12 candidates, only Hagedorn and
Hontiveros backed the proposal to legalize divorce in the country while the
other 10 opposed it.
Hontiveros, in particular, said she favors
divorce in cases of “wife battery, child abuse and marital rape.”
Meanwhile, Hagedorn and Maceda also stood out
from the pack by saying that they favor lowering the age of discernment for the
juvenile justice law. Both candidates noted that criminal syndicates are using
youths to commit crimes since they cannot be jailed.
Almost all the candidates said it is the right
of religious groups to choose which candidates they want to support in the
coming elections. Hontiveros, however, said there should be separation of
church and state and that religious groups should follow the rules set by the
Omnibus Election Code.
Hagedorn, Montano earn laughs
Still, some of the candidates earned laughs
from the audience at La Consolacion due to their spontaneity.
On the question of whether religious groups
should endorse candidates, Hagedorn drew laughter when he answered: “Parang
malungkot kung di sila mag eendorso.”
Retired cop Ramon Montaño also had the crowd in
stitches during the “face-off round” with fellow candidate JC delos Reyes of
Ang Kapatiran. Delos Reyes asked Montaño what he would do to reform the
national police force and then added if he could shed more light on the 1972
ambush on Juan Ponce Enrile.
Montano then replied: “2 questions yun
ah."
The former police general said he wants to
isolate the Philippine National Police (PNP) from politics. He also reiterated
his earlier statement that Enrile’s ambush was staged, contrary to Enrile’s own
claim in his biography that it was real.
