CCDC spearheads forum for 2022 local elections

TONGTONGAN DI MASAKBAYAN 2022

Candidates for the top three elected positions in the province of Benguet bared their plans and platforms towards various issues surrounding the province in an election forum leading to the May 2022 polls.

Dubbed ‘Tongtongan di Masakbayan,’ the three-part forum series was hosted by Cordillera Career Development College (CCDC) at its 3,000-seater gymnasium in La Trinidad, Benguet.

The first part started with vice gubernatorial aspirants on April 25 while the second was for gubernatorial aspirants on April 27. Congressional aspirants ended the series on April 29.

The forum intended to examine the plans and intentions of the candidates to help guide voters in their choices this May polls, said CCDC President Sherry Junette Malaya-Tagle.

Questions were solicited from sectoral groups as well as from line agencies and non-government agencies, Tagle said.

The first segment of the forum consists of eight rounds where candidates took turns in answering questions related to certain issues or aspects of the society. In the second segment, the candidates showed their stand on local and national issues by simply raising a thumbs up and thumbs down sign.

The Commission on Elections Benguet Provincial Office also held a voter’s education campaign and a demonstration of how to use the Electronic Voting Machine.

The election forum is hosted by the CCDC College of Law and La Trinidad-based Infinitum Multimedia. It is duly-accredited by the COMELEC and held in partnership with the Philippine Information Agency and the Benguet Press Corps.

The first of the series was moderated by CCDC law professor Atty. Miller Quintin Jr. The gubernatorial forum was moderated by former La Trinidad Sangguniang Kabataan president Atty. Brenden Kim Quintos and Department of Development Communication chair Nora Sagayo of Benguet State University.

The final forum series was moderated by CCDC College of Accountancy dean Domingo Bay-an, who is also a former town mayor, and Rocky Jake Ngalob of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples – Benguet.*