THE COMMISSION on Elections signed an agreement with the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila on Monday for the university’s participation in the forthcoming town hall debates for presidential and vice presidential candidates on April 23 and 24.

“With education being one of the sectors that was disrupted due to the pandemic, our country’s next leaders must have a clear plan on how to move forward keeping in mind the best interest of Filipino learners,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in a statement.

“The inputs and insights from a respected state university like PLM are sure to yield a discussion agenda that will make for an interesting and fruitful debate,” he added.

PLM will serve as the sectoral representative of the academe in the debates.

The university will send four representatives in the roundtable discussion who are experts in each topic. The experts will weigh in on the answers of the candidates.

“The Filipino electorate need to be aware of what is at stake on May 9. PLM, along with other education and civil society stakeholders, is seeking to bring this to our people especially to the youth who represent  a big chunk of our registered voters,” PLM President Emmanuel Leyco said.

“The University is a non-partisan organization whose only goal is to contribute to wider voters’ education and empowerment running up to the May 9 polls,” he added.