1st Inquirer forum pits incumbents, ex-senators

Seven sitting or former senators take to the stage Wednesday to lift the veil on the Senate’s inner workings, in the first of three Inquirer Senate Forums.

Reelectionist Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Chiz Escudero, Loren Legarda and Koko Pimentel join former Senators Richard Gordon, Ernesto Maceda and Ramon Magsaysay Jr. at the UP Film Center in the main Diliman campus, in a discussion driven by one theme: How the Senate really works.

How are alliances formed? How many votes are needed to block a measure? How much of the real work is not caught by the media? What makes for an effective senator? These and other questions are expected to be raised, in a discussion moderated by eminent economist and Inquirer columnist Cielito Habito and Radyo Inquirer’s “Banner Story” morning program co-anchor and veteran reporter Arlyn dela Cruz.

Questions from pre-selected members of the audience and from social media will also be raised.

The same format will be followed in the two other theme-driven forums, to which other candidates have been invited, scheduled for April 18 at the University of Baguio and April 26 at the Cebu Cultural Center.

The Diliman forum is open to the public and to all media. Gates open at 8 a.m.