President Duterte Backs Out On Debate vs Carpio Upon Advice Of Cabinet — Roque

President Duterte backed out on a debate against Antonio Carpio upon the advice of the Cabinet, according to Roque.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that President Rodrigo Duterte backed out on a debate against retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio upon the advice of the Cabinet.

According to Roque, it was the Cabinet — Senate Presidente Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III — who advised President Duterte not to push through with the debate himself because of these reasons:

• nothing beneficial to Filipinos will come out of the debate
• President Duterte was a sitting president, while retired Senior Associate Justice Carpio was an “ordinary lawyer”
• whatever the President said in the debate could affect the public policy and may be covered by executive privilege

Roque shared that President Duterte was ready to debate, but the President took the advice of Cabinet members last night — including Executive Secretary Medialdea.

READ ALSO: Roque Says He Will Debate Against Carpio About West Philippine Sea

Roque also said that, for the Cabinet, pitting the President against Carpio would not be “fair”.

“Bakit papayag sa debate eh nakaupong Presidente naman si Presidente Duterte at si Atty Carpio naman po, bagama’t siya’y dating mahistrado, ay ordinaryong abogado na ngayon. Parang hindi naman po ata tabla na ang Presidente mismo ang haharap sa ordinarying mambabatas. Parang hindi po patas,” Roque said.

There’s a sense from the Cabinet that the President might say things during the debate that could endanger the government policies.

According to Roque, everything President Duterte will say in the debate will affect the policies of the Philippine government, adding that the President can’t take back what he said in the debate apart from the fact that there’s what they called “executive privilege”.

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