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MANILA - Political analysts believe that presidential candidates failed to connect with the sectoral representatives who asked questions during the PiliPinas 2016 Presidential Town Hall Debate.

Speaking on ANC's "Talkback with Tina Monson Palma," Prof. Ronnie Holmes, Pulse Asia president; Dr. Aries Arugay of the University of the Philippines, and Dr. Jayeel Cornelio of the Ateneo Development Studies Program all agreed that the presidential candidates should have listened to the people who asked questions instead of pointing out what they will do.

"It is quite difficult for many of us, including myself, to be able to be convinced that a candidate who promises to deliver many things would actually be able to deliver it, the candidate should be able to connect to my experience," Holmes said.

He also believe that the candidates should have engaged the person asking the question in a dialogue, which none of the presidential candidates did.

"If I were a candidate, if I put myself in the shoes of the candidate, the first I would do is to try to dialogue with that person, rather than to spill out all of my plans, because that's where I get to be connected that individual," Holmes said.

"However, that's very difficult for a national candidates who has only a minute to respond. But that connection is something that can be easily seen on national television between I as a candidate and a person asking a question in a town hall meeting," he also said.

Arugay, for his part, believes voters will look for the human dimension to the issue, which the candidates failed to focus on.

"The last debate put human faces to the issues, and I felt like if I'm the candidate, if I'm the voter, I would really listen in a sense that there is a human dimension to the issue. In the sense, voters are saying, like, 'We can go back to these people if you fail to deliver.' And these are not just statistics anymore," he said.

"I feel like some of the answers were limiting because they were treated still as statistics, but you have here a person, who already pours his heart out. These are real issues. That was a blunder. Not only was there a lack of connection, it was more like, 'I'm sorry you were not part of the beneficiaries. Maybe next time,'" Arugay added.

Cornelio said candidates should have just listened to those who asked questions.

"A good counselor does not offer theory to someone who is sick, right? To someone who is depressive, for example, a counselor just listens. I didn't feel that was the case yesterday," he said.

The five presidential candidates - Vice President Jejomar Binay, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Senator Grace Poe, Mar Roxas, and Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago - faced each other for the last time in Sunday's town hall debate.

Seven people from different provinces asked questions on different issues, such as health, education, labor policies, traffic, territorial dispute, peace in Mindanao and issues involving overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

You can read the full transcript of the "PiliPinas 2016: The Presidential Townhall Debate" here.

You can also watch a reply of the entire debate here.

A replay of the debate will also air on the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) Tuesday 7 p.m.