CMUans attend 1st Presidential “PiliPinas” Debates at CDO

Five representatives from the university were given a chance to attend the 1st Presidential Debate dubbed “PiliPinas Debates” sponsored by the COMELEC, Philippine Daily Inquirer, and GMA 7 Network held at Capitol University on February 27, 2016.

Three faculty members, Dr. Joy M. Jamago (Head, International Relations Office), Ms. April Rose T. Torion (Department of Languages and Literature & Adviser of the Central Post), and Mr. Efren Leo V. Aribal (Chief, Public Relations and Information Office) attended this forum together with Mr. Marwel S. Mukara (AB PolSci 3) and Ms. Alliah Nicole Benguar (President of the Student Council Organization, CMULHS) who represented the youth sector as members of the audience during the debate.

For Mukara who is a first time voter on May, he said that the experience was great as he is still contemplating as to whom to cast his vote. Benguar added that even though she still cannot vote, she was grateful to witness how politicians present solutions to problems, thus gave her ideas as to how to evaluate leaders in the future.

For the faculty members, Ms. Torion still has not made a choice among the five candidates and still considers hearing more from them for the next two “PiliPinas Debates”. The same sentiments were given by Dr. Jamago and added that it was just the first round and definitely the candidates will prepare more for the next national debates. She added that the debate provided an overview to all the voters about the platforms of the presidential aspirants who were also scrutinized as to how they presented themselves to the public and how they substantially answered critical issues. Dr. Jamago suggested that perhaps before the election, the University may organize the same debate format to be done by the students for increased awareness on national and international concerns, as well as, to provide the venue for CMU students to present their views and “what” should be so the next Philippine president.

The five representatives sincerely thanked Mr. Oliver Victor B. Amoroso, the Assistant Vice President of Regional Business Development Division at GMA Network Inc. and also an alumnus of the CMULHS, for providing them the chance to participate in the event.

Note: the next two “PiliPinas Debates” will be held in the Visayas (to be co-hosted by TV5) and in Luzon (to be co-hosted by ABS-CBN) sometime on March and April, respectively.