Q&A

The art of asking questions is one that is rapidly being lost in this country. In other countries the media is usually relied upon to get to the bottom of serious questions. Unfortunately, it seems that in some cases, journalists and media men are too busy pushing their own political agenda, or shouting down their perceived political opponents, to ask — never mind discover the answers to - important questions. Thankfully not all of our journalists are like this, but quite a few are, and it is to the Philippine public’s detriment.

There is no more important time to ask questions than during an election campaign. That is the whole point of the campaign; to allow the voting public to learn about the candidates and decide for which one they will vote. That no longer seems to be the case. For an example, look no further than Plaza Miranda, in front of Quiapo Church. This used to be the center of election activities. When testing any government policy or decision, the crucial question was, “Can we defend this in Plaza Miranda?” Plaza Miranda, then, was symbolic of our past politicians understanding that eventually they had to answer to their constituents, to the people they worked for: the Filipinos.

Now, we question if very many of our politicians even consider having to defend their actions and policies before the Philippine public. If they did, and understood they could be held accountable, we would expect many would act remarkably different, or if they would even be in politics at all. What we forget too often is that politicians are public servants and our representatives. They are supposed to be looking out for the public’s interests, not their own.

Really, this is the time to be asking our candidates the tough questions. Questions should be asked about their pasts, about their policy decisions, about their accomplishments and about their private businesses. And in truth, the candidates should welcome these questions. Their answers allow them to demonstrate to the voting public what kind of person and candidate they are. More importantly, it will allow them to demonstrate what type of president they will be. We the public should demand the answers to these types of questions and not be satisfied with canned answers.

What we would like to see is more televised and radio broadcast town hall type forums which will allow members of the public to question the candidates directly, moderated of course. The public deserves less canned responses and more opportunities to really learn about the candidates and where they are coming from. Too often we allow them to be “packaged.” To make it simple for the candidates, each town hall forum can specifically focus on one or two topics. This at least will allow them to prepare fully. The key here is to televise the forums, not just the debates. With technology the way it is, the candidates can even have an internet component to the town hall forums — allowing people to email or text their questions, which the moderator could then select from. The rules and organization of these types of forum would need to be worked out. But, technology allows the candidates to make themselves more accessible to the voting public and ensure voter questions are truly answered.

We may think of adopting or forming some sort of third-party, civilian and non-partisan foundation or NGO that would oversee the running and organizations of presidential debates and forums (much like what is done in other countries). This group could handle working with the different schools and organizations to host and support the debates and forums. The key is though, that while the forum topics are known, the questions that will be asked are not.

Tough questions demand and deserve tough and truthful answers. Sadly, we suspect that more often than not, when tough questions are asked the response is given in the form of a stuffed envelope.