THRILLA IN UP MANILA ROUND 3

The Good Neighbors' Initiative (GNI) organized an election forum for mayoral candidates of the City
of Manila dubbed as “Thrilla in UP Manila, Round 3” last 29 March 2019, 1 pm at the UP Manila
Theater, College of Arts and Sciences. Thrilla in UP Manila Round 1 and 2 was held consecutively in
2013 and in 2016.

The objectives of the forum were to create a venue for the mayoral candidates to present their
platforms and programs and to tackle the appalling condition of UP Manila's environment due to long-
standing problems on, among others, illegal sidewalk vending, traffic, garbage, and the illegal terminal
of jeepneys and pedicabs along the streets.

The GNI invited three leading candidates, Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada, Former Mayor Alfredo Lim,
and Former Vice Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso. Among the invited candidates, only
Former Vice Mayor Isko Moreno participated in the forum and Former Mayor Lim was represented by
Atty. Renato de la Cruz.

The event was attended by 141 participants from different colleges of UP Manila, and other
institutions and media agencies, such as the St. Paul University, Golden Success College, Pamantasan
ng Lungsod ng Maynila, ABS-CBN, Manila Times, Rappler, CNN Philippines, Inquirer.NET, Bombo
Radyo, Radyo Pilipinas, and DWIZ. The event was broadcasted live through livestream.upm.edu.ph
and live tweets at UPManilaOnline.

Vice Chancellor Nymia Simbulan stated the welcome remarks in behalf of Chancellor Carmencita
Padilla. GNI Coordinator Dr. Erna Arollado discussed the Statement of Purpose of the election forum
and presented the Good Neighbor’s Initiative and its agenda. Former Coordinator Nina Gloriani stated
the Closing Remarks.

GNI Members Brian Bantugan, Ph.D. of St. Paul University was the Masters of Ceremonies and
Moderator of the event and Pastor Carlos Dela Cruz of UCCP Ellinwood Malate Church introduced the
candidates.
The candidates were allotted 20 minutes to present their platforms and 2 minutes to answer in the
open forum. Questions from the audience were directed thru the UP Manila twitter account using the
#ThrillaInUPM3.

Questions regarding the senior citizen’s benefits, jeepney modernization, traffic, waste disposal, illegal
vendors, illegal settlers, and reclamation projects were presented during the open forum.

(Here are some write-ups about the Thrilla in UP Manila)

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/29/19/manila-political-bets-hope-for-
comeback?fbclid=IwAR2PVIbIb27zUmR_N-pyV1A7EAllsNPIcipNgPPlZSGAr7Kmn39Qb8piCWM

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1101179/look-isko-moreno-attends-up-manila-election-
forum?fbclid=IwAR1befydRxyc6WFu6srIHf6s4MOVtzhBHAljWfhsmzZZg9wkbda6xYgcD9Y#ixzz5jzkMa
Rqr

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/03/29/estrada-lim-no-show-in-thrilla/