As mudslinging intensifies among the candidates and their supporters days before the election, issues affecting the ordinary Filipino seem to have taken a backseat in the final days of the campaign.

The last PiliPinas 2016 presidential town hall debate held last April 24 attempted to reorient the discourse by allowing everyday citizens to ask the candidates themselves for solutions to common problems they face.

Luther Aquino, Advocacy Program Officer of Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan (SLB), commended the debate’s format as it “allowed a glimpse into the challenges faced by people in the peripheries everyday.”

ABS-CBN and Manila Bulletin hosted the last of three Commission on Elections-sanctioned presidential debates at the PHINMA-University of Pangasinan.

Candidates blast endo

Labor contractualization was one issue that united all candidates in the debate. All five bets vowed to end the practice that takes advantage of loopholes found in the Labor Code of the Philippines.

According to Section 281 of the the Labor Code, probationary employment is banned for laborers having worked 6 months since the start of their employment. Any work beyond 6 months warrants regularization and the granting of benefits for the employee.

However, companies bypass the regularization requirement stipulated in the Labor Code by arranging contracts with laborers that employ them for less than 6 months. The practice is also known as endo or “end of contract.”

According to the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, there are about 25-35 million contractual laborers out of the country’s 67 million-strong workforce.

Despite their unified indignation over the issue, the candidates were at odds in their plans to remove endo.

Senator Grace Poe offered to give incentives to businesses to reduce reliance on endo labor. In contrast, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas vowed to close loopholes in the Labor Code, within the first three months of his administration. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte proposed calling on Congress to pass a law banning the practice within his first few days in office.

Vice President Jejomar Binay bared his income tax reduction plan to help ease the burden of laborers, while Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago promised infrastructure projects to put more people on the government payroll.

According to Annelle Garcia, member of the Ateneo Task Force (ATF), Roxas’ answers were the most comprehensive and viable of the candidates.

“He had actual plans for it, rather than everyone else who was saying ‘Yes, endo is bad,’ ma-vague lang yung mga sinasabi nila, but Mar really had his points out and his agenda in order to battle [endo],” she said.

However, Aquino raised doubts over the candidates’ ability to follow through on their promises.

“One question that has to be raised is whether those who have past or present business interests among our candidates have called out their associates or even family members engaged in such a practice and other unfair labor practices,” he said.

West PH Sea

Another prominent issue raised during the debates was the dispute over the Spratly Islands, a grouping of reefs and other land formations in the middle of the West Philippine Sea.

The Spratlys have been a source of contention between the Philippines, the People’s Republic of China, and other countries surrounding the West Philippine Sea.

Amidst Chinese construction of facilities in the area, the Philippines has a pending case against China Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague, Netherlands. A ruling is expected by June 2016.

The candidates talked tough on confronting China over encroaching territory in the disputed areas, and sought to protect Filipino fishermen hardest hit by the ongoing tensions. Duterte even said he would personally plant the Philippine flag in the contested area.

“I will plant the Philippine flag in the Chinese airport in the Scarborough Shoal, then I would say, ‘This is ours and do what you want with me,’” said Duterte in a mix of Filipino and English.

However, some acknowledged the realities of facing a militarily superior country like China.

“Pagdating naman natin sa international, tanggapin natin, ang sitwasyon natin sa Tsina ay dehado tayo. Mas marami silang barko, mas maraming baril, mas maraming aircraft, may nuclear, et cetera. Subalit, hindi natin dapat isuko kung ano ang atin. (On the international stage, we have to accept that we are at a disadvantage with China. They have more ships, guns, aircraft, nuclear weapons, etc. However, we must not surrender what is rightfully ours),” Roxas said.

According, according to Garcia, Poe had the clearest plan in handling the issue.

“[Poe’s plan] was very broad, in a good way, with her answer, because most people focus on the local. [She] mentioned how we need to also bring this to the international eye,” she said.

Elevating electoral discourse

While the debate was able to tackle issues of certain marginalized sectors, some expressed their disappointment in the way candidates laid out their plans.

“In the end, all the candidates largely failed to challenge each other on finer points of policy and platform, instead reverting back to exchanges we’ve already seen before and letting each other use up their airtime talking about general intentions. How about a debate on strategies and development frameworks? There was not much of that,” Aquino said.

Kim Bay, president of The Ateneo Assembly, thought that the debate was “informative” but believes their “answers could have been more substantial, especially for the candidates who used motherhood statements most of the time.”

Aquino hopes that as election day nears, there will be more opportunities for other marginalized sectors such as persons with disabilities, detainees, internally-displaced persons, the urban poor, and indigenous peoples to be heard.

“The only way we can elevate electoral discourse is if we head to the peripheries and speak with those for whom democratic discourse has the most impact and promise: the poorest of the poor,” Aquino said.

Meanwhile, in the face of overwhelming information and propaganda circulating in the media, Kim Bay, president of Ateneo Assembly, urged voters “to remain vigilant” and to be informed by “credible sources.”