The Commission on Elections will implement a new format in the second round of presidential debates on April 3, allowing candidates to discuss issues on government accountability and domestic policy with more depth, its spokesperson said Thursday.
Unlike in the first round of the PiliPinas Debates 2022 where only one general question was asked per segment, the presidential candidates will now be divided into groups of three where each group will be given one question to debate on, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said.
A general question will be posed for all candidates to answer in the first segment, followed by the group debates in the succeeding segments. Each candidate will be given two minutes to answer with a 30-second rebuttal.
The groups of three will also change with each segment, which will be determined through drawing of lots two hours before the debate airs at 7 p.m. on Sunday. The questions will also be different for each group, but are related to the theme of government accountability and domestic policy.
All in all, there will be four segments with the new format. By the end of the debate, each candidate will be given 60 seconds to make their closing statement.
"We feel that these changes will give a more substantial debate and will allow the candidates to delve into the topics in greater detail," Jimenez said.
In the first round of the presidential debates last March 19, nine of the 10 official candidates were present, with Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos declining to participate.
Jimenez said there is no indication that the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. will attend the April 3 debate.
"Right now wala naman siyang pasabi kung hindi siya darating o darating man. Right now, what we have is his old statements, so we can proceed with that," he added.
After the second round of the presidential debates, a presidential and vice presidential town hall debate will take place on April 24 and 23, respectively, where viewers can directly ask questions to the candidates.
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