Chan: SLU hosts mayoral electoral forum

Being a student can sometimes be difficult. One has to deal with academics and extra-curricular activities. Sometimes it takes up so much time that one forgets that other equally important things are happening outside the academe, like the upcoming national and local elections.

Saint Louis University recently sponsored an election forum among the mayoral candidates of Baguio City. The event was hosted by the College of Law.

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Among the ten candidates seeking election, seven showed up for the event. They were: Representative Mauricio Domogan, former Councilor Jose Molintas, Councilor Elaine Sembrano, Mr. Julius Mandapat, Mr. Marquez Go, Mr. Vicente Puzon and Mrs. Erlinda Busacay-Lazo.

The forum started with the candidates introducing themselves for about four minutes each. After which, they picked numbers to decide their speaking order.

A common set of seven questions was formulated for each candidate. Each candidate was allotted two minutes for each question.

Only one candidate at a time was allowed to speak out and discuss the issues presented to them. The others were isolated in a separate room where they would not be able to hear the ongoing inquiry. After the event, the candidates would gather together again for the last round of questions which they would pick from a common pool of questions via a fishbowl.

The environment was controlled and tame in comparison to the presidential debates held recently on the national stage. There were no heated arguments between candidates nor was there mudslinging. In fact, any potential attacks came in the form of critique against past government projects of the current or previous administration. However, that didn’t mean that the event itself was without its moments.

Many of the candidates had particularly intriguing responses. Among them, Jose Molintas proposed the creation of a Old City – New City Baguio (e.g. a City Hall at John Hay) to ease the traffic problem of the city. To hearty cheers of the mostly student crowd, he also proposed the creation of a citywide Wi-Fi system and added that it would help curb the alarming case of gang violence with more children choosing to stay at home.

Mauricio Domogan emphasized his records as mayor. As the city’s janitor, Baguio was elevated to the Hall of Fame of the Philippines’ cleanest and greenest cities.

Erlinda Busacay-Lazo regaled the audience with amusing anecdotes about her past and her vision of the Baguio community holding hands for the future. She thought it was a pity how the youth today lacks etiquette, leading them to become violent.

Marquez Go had a vision of establishing a monorail within the city should the citizens of Baguio be mature enough. An early audience favorite from his introductory speech, he vowed to resign from office after six months should he fail to resolve the critical garbage crises besetting the city.

While the round-table itself was not as unrestrictive as the presidential debates and lacked an open forum at the end of the formal queries, it was a first for Baguio.

It was the first time many students – some of them first-time voters, were exposed to the political ideals (or lack thereof) of these candidates. SLU deserves praise for creating an event to educate its students about the coming elections. Needless to say, the affair was successful.

Hopefully, other (and more comprehensive) forums will be staged very soon.