Presidential candidate Ping Lacson and vice-presidential candidate Tito Sotto criticize the proposal to give topics in advance ahead of the Commission on Elections debate in March.

Comelec initially said that would inform the participating bets in its upcoming debates about the general topics that would be covered for fairness.

Lacson said that giving topics is like a leakage in examinations.

“Para saan pa kung nagbigay ka ng exam kung magbibigay ka ng leakage? Parang lokohan lang. Dapat mag-aral sila. Wag silang humingi ng advance questions,” he said.

Sotto said that this request also shows the voters that some candidates are unprepared to answer tough questions.

“‘Yung pagkakatiwalan ko ‘yung mga matagal nang nag-aaral kaysa sa ngayon pa lang mag-aaral. Kung ‘di ibibigay ng Comelec ang topic, hindi mag-aaral?” he said.

Vice-presidential bet Kiko Pangilinan also opposed the idea.

“Dapat hindi ka mapili ng tanong kasi ‘pag tumatakbo ka ng pangulo ng Pilipinas as much as possible lahat ng tanong pwede itanong sa’yo dahil ikaw ay nag-aapply na maging leader ng bansa,” he said. “So kailangan open ka sa lahat ng mga tanong,” Pangilinan said.

“Debate pa lang natatakot na. Paano pag nanalo ka na? Eh natatakot, baka magnakaw naman ng pera ng gobyerno di ba?,” he added.