Liberal Party standard bearer Senator Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III Wednesday invited the camp of Senator Manuel “Manny” Villar of the Nacionalista Party to iron out details of the most anticipated one-on-one debate between the two pre-election survey frontrunners.

Aquino sought a meeting with NP representatives to discuss the venue, date, format, and other details of the debate, which he said will give voters the opportunity to compare their platforms and allow both candidates to elaborate on their positions on key governance issues.

Aquino earlier lamented the format of previous presidential debates, saying it had constraints that did not allow candidates to go beyond the sound bite. He challenged Villar for a one-on-one debate after the NP bet failed to attend the presidential forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) last Monday.

“I think it’s time to end the proxy war. This would give Sen. Villar a chance to do what he wasn’t able to do on the Senate floor: take direct questions regarding the Senate’s findings on the C-5 deal and other issues that have remained unanswered by him,” he said.

For his part, Aquino said the debate will also give him the chance to shed light on the allegations raised by Villar’s camp on the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway controversies.

But more than giving each other time to explain, Aquino said he also hoped they would tackle other important issues, like their positions on education reforms, taxes, electoral campaign finance reform, food security, constitutional amendments, and foreign policy issues like the Visiting Forces Agreement and Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement.

Aquino’s invitation for a one-on-one debate with Villar sparked criticisms from the ruling Lakas-Kampi Christian-Muslim Democrats Party, whose stalwarts said Aquino must be afraid to face his cousin, former Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro, Jr. in a debate.