If a debate were organized between the candidates of Hugpong ng Pagbabago and the losing bets from the floundering Liberal Party (LP) led by a front-runner aptly labeled an incompetent, then the downsides for the latter might just be overwhelming.

From the perspective of the winning slate, with most of its candidates comfortably tucked among the Magic 12, a debate with losers would be unwise and a waste of time as it would effectively be granting unknowns visibility as well as credibility where none exist. More important is the fact that providing fora for politicos who have not only been inconsistent but have the propensity to brazenly lie does not augur well for anyone.

If the LP wants a debate then they should debate among themselves. There are quite a number of conflicting and negating issues among them where some have been either inconsistent or have on numerous occasions outrightly lied to the public. Their contradictions alone show how the diverse rainbow community they offer is in reality a collection of political hypocrites.

In the case of their front-runner who straddles the outer fringes of the Magic 12, the falsehoods, denials, contradictions and inconsistencies have long been revealed. It is to the credit of the LP that he’s chosen to distance himself from their campaign routes. Recalling his campaign to contest Rodrigo Duterte, how can the public trust any politician with a knack for fakery and publicity stunts for whom falsehoods are second nature?

Allow us to analyze the positions of the LP candidates if only to preview issues they might argue among themselves.

One former congressman, an avowed advocate of the Priority Development Assistance Fund, who’s taken left-of-center and nationalist positions in the past might do well to engage his fellow candidate, a convicted coup plotter who not only took up arms against duly constituted authority and the Constitution but had likewise trashed Filipino sovereignty by aggressively advocating for the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

Visibly tainted with shades of treason, the EDCA surrenders sovereignty and places Filipinos at extreme risk by allowing a foreign military power to build and operate facilities on Philippine military bases, thus painting a large target inside our territory for any third-party adversary who might not even be our enemy.

Another LP candidate, the party’s celebrity look-alike and Ninoy Aquino impersonator, who advocates for free collegiate education would do well to read and understand RA 1093, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, to show that his DNA might be a tad more developed than his cousin’s.

Moreover, since he voted against a hero’s burial for a dictator and then supported an attempt to perpetuate an ousted Supreme Court appointee whose colleagues found to have dubious credentials, he would have a lot to answer for in a debate on values and principles.

Jose Manuel Diokno, an educator and human rights advocate, vows to run after criminals, rich or poor. His specific advocacy behooves asking what specific legislation might he author to ensure against corruption scandals such as the Metro Rail Transit-3 maintenance contract scam, the multibillion peso Mahindra contract, the Dengvaxia malversation and the missing and unaccounted “Yolanda” rehabilitation funds — all perpetrated under the LP.

What legislation might he write to ensure liars who deceived us to protect themselves and hide their guilt in the Zamboanga siege and the Mamasapano massacre are held accountable?

Finding answers to these questions pits Diokno against his party mates and their endorser Benigno Aquino III who faces quite a number of corruption cases that would be all for naught should the LP win and control the Senate. Given the LP’s insidious ploy to escape accountability for criminality and corruption committed under the Aquino administration, these debate issues require answers.

Otherwise, as platforms cancel out and result in a zero sum, taken as a whole, the LP candidates effectively amount to nothing.