MANILA -- Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada snubbed the first ever presidential debate organized by the Philippine Daily Inquirer due to prior commitments, his spokesperson said Tuesday.

“Various delegations from all over the country have sought an audience with former President Joseph Estrada today at the PMP headquarters, including delegations from as far as Lanao del Sur and other parts of Mindanao, which President Estrada had to prioritize, for which reason former President Estrada was not able to attend the forum of the Philippine Daily Inquirer at the University of the Philippines this morning,” Margaux Salcedo said in a statement.

The debate, which took place a day before the official start of the 90-day presidential campaign was attended by Senators Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, Manuel Villar Jr., Richard Gordon and Jamby Madrigal; ex-Defense Secretary Gilberto "Gibo" Teodoro Jr.; televangelist-cum-politician Eddie Villanueva; Olongapo City Councilor JC delos Reyes; and environmentalist Nicanor Perlas.

“We would like to emphasize that President Estrada has tried to accommodate as many forums as possible as his schedule permits, believing in the importance of sharing his platform with voters,” the statement added.

However, an earlier text message to reporters quoted Salcedo as saying that Estrada skipped the event due to the newspaper's alleged bias against the former President.

The debate, which started at about 10:30 a.m. ran for two hours at the University of the Philippines Theater in Diliman, Quezon City.

The candidates were grilled by the broadsheet’s columnists who include former University of the Philippines College of Law Dean Raul Pangalangan, constitutionalist Father Joaquin Bernas SJ, women’s advocate Rina Jimenez David, UP anthropology professor Michael Tan and former socio-economic planning secretary Cielito Habito.

Homegrown veterans Jorge Aruta (opinion editor), Raul Marcelo (business editor), Fe Zamora (senior political reporter), and Pam Pastor (youth section editor) also partake in the event aired live over radio station DZBB.

The format follows a question directed specifically to each candidate on three areas, namely: Law and Politics, Social Issues, and Economics and Budget.

Some 2,000 tickets were distributed for forum partners such as the UP College of Mass Communication, the Management Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Nursing Association. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)