The notes that candidates will make for the debates sponsored by the Commission on Elections will form part of government records, the poll body said on Monday as it finalizes the details for the event.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said they are preparing a kit for its debate series as part of the 2022 elections, which will contain everything the candidates need to know and will require as they participate in the forum.
"The kit will also tell the candidates the treatment of the paper after they've used [it]. Because remember if they're scribbling notes on that, hindi yan itatapon afterwards," Jimenez told reporters in a press briefing.
"That is literally presidential records. So those will be preserved as property of the Comelec," he added.
Earlier, Vice President Leni Robredo and Dr. Willie Ong publicized their notes during the CNN Philippines presidential and vice-presidential debates over the weekend, showing how they organized their thoughts in the fast-paced debate.
Aside from the provision of pen and paper, Jimenez said the candidates would also be given the general topics that may be asked during the debates but not the specific questions.
"In any debate, even in the PiliPinas debates that we held in 2016, we did inform the campaigns about the general topics to be discussed. Hindi ito everything under the sun and bahala na kami kung anong itatanong namin, hindi ganun," he said.
"We would like the debates to be fair, and every candidate will have the opportunity to do whatever research they need to do in preparation for the debates because they will all be given the general areas around which the questions will revolve," he added.
The Comelec debates will be held on March 19 and 20 at the Philippine Arena.
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