On Sunday night, five presidential candidates will gather at Cagayan de Oro's Capitol University for the Mindanao round of the Commission on Elections-initiated debate before millions of television viewers and hundreds more in the audience.
The debate will be the first the poll body has organized in two decades. It will also be the first debate held outside Metro Manila.
Expect Vice President Jejomar Binay, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Sen. Grace Poe, Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel "Mar" Roxas II and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago deliver their opening statements and answer queries. The five candidates have confirmed attendance at the first of three debates before the May 9 ballot.
The upcoming debate will have a modified two-moderator format. Candidates will be questioned on a variety of issues mainly on agriculture development, poverty reduction, charter change and peace and order for the Mindanao leg.
The first round will air over GMA-7 at 5 p.m. with simulcast over accredited radio stations. While other media entities are not allowed to take photos and videos inside the debate hall, they are allowed to use only up to two minutes of excerpt from the event treated as copyrighted material of the host network and its partner newspaper. Non-affiliates are also forbidden from offering a video stream of the debate online.
Philstar.com, however, will be on the ground and reporting LIVE with updates and commentary on bilangpilipino.philstar.com.
What are the things to look out for in Sunday's five-way debate? Read this.