Sen. Koko Pimentel Wants TV Coverage of Presidential Debates Commercial Free

PDP-Laban President, Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms urged the Commission on Elections, the organizers of the presidential debates that the event which will be aired on national TV will be aired non-stop and should be free of commercials.

Debates 2016

According to Sen. Pimentel during the first round of debates in Cagayan de Oro, co-hosted by Philippine Daily Inquirer and GMA Network and aired on GMA 7, accommodated too many advertisements and did not give enough time for the candidates to discuss their platforms.

“It should never be commercialized. This is a presidential debate. It is a public service,” Pimentel said. The President of PDP-Laban also noted that Comelec could asks its media partners to limit the commercial load of the event.

It can be recalled that during the first presidential debates, the PDP-Laban standard-bearer, Mayor Rodrido Duterte was the only presidential candidate who has no commercial during the the two-hour debates.

The second presidential debate, to be cohosted by The Philippine Star, TV5 and BusinessWorld, it will be held at the University of the Philippines-Cebu on March 20. while the third presidential debates will be led by ABS-CBN and Manila Bulletin at the University of Pangasinan on April 24.

Sen. Pimentel also made a proposal that in future campaigns, the Comelec should just fund the debate and hold a bidding, in accordance with the procurement law, to determine who would air the event. This is the only way that the debates could be aired without the need for advertisements.

Leave a Comment