Senator and presidential candidate Manny Pacquiao slammed national election candidates who frequently snub debates.

Pacquiao said he fears that these candidates may have no good intentions for the country.

The Marcos-Duterte tandem is leading pre-election surveys, but they have repeatedly snubbed invitations for election debates.

“Debate pa lang natatakot na. Paano ‘pag nanalo ka na? Nakakatakot baka magnakaw naman,” Pacquiao said in an interview in Pangasinan.

Meanwhile, vice presidential candidate Walden Bello hit the UniTeam standard-bearers for their complete disregard of the voting public. He also said that candidates who escape debates could be hiding something.

“Karapatan naman nila ‘yan na hindi mag-attend ng debate. Pero ang taong bayan kasi gusto nilang malaman ‘yung plataporma mo, ‘yung plano mo sa kanila, ‘yung plano mo sa taong bayan, sa bansa, kung ano ‘yung kinabukasan,” Pacquiao said.

“Kasi at the end of the day kung failure ‘yung administration niya tapos maghanap ka ng accomplishment, sabihin niya ‘Bakit nangako ba ako sa inyo?’ … Pwede niya sabihin, ‘Kaya nga hindi ako nag-attend ng debate eh, kasi wala akong balak na gawin ito, gawin ‘yan,” he added.

Pacquiao said that debates are good because they are recorded, and people can make the candidate accountable if he or she fails to deliver on their promises.