Understand the power, the influence and the responsibility we have to participate in the Philippine elections – even when thousands of miles away from the Motherland. No candidate names will be mentioned during this panel, but our speakers will present historical data, behaviors, initiatives, and provide tools to support our audience to be wise voters and fight fake news.

Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/sTaZExT0DQk

This panel is scheduled for:

Day 1:  Nov. 4,  7:30-9:00 p.m. ET  (Nov. 5,  7:30-9:00 a.m. Philippines)

Marvin Tomandao is a professional events host with many years in the entertainment and events industry. He hosted the 30th South East Asian Games, among many big personalities and companies in the Philippines. Tomandao is a former TV reporter with GMA News and Public Affairs and a singer-dancer at Universal Studios Singapore. He was also in the Ensemble of Aladdin The Musical.

He graduated from the University of the Philippines, Diliman.

Consul General Edgar Barrairo Badajos assumed his post as Consul General of the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles on 06 April 2021.
Consul General Badajos first joined the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in 1997. In the DFA, he has held various positions of responsibility including, most recently, as Director of the Political and Security Division of the Office of ASEAN Affairs. In that role, he played a significant role in negotiations related to the Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea during the Philippines’ Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2017.
Immediately prior to his posting to Los Angeles, Consul General Badajos served as Consul General at the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. His other previous foreign assignments include the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto from 2000 to 2003, the Philippine Consulate General in New York from 2003 to 2007, and the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand from 2009 to 2015.
Consul General Badajos is a graduate of the U.P. College of Law. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of the Philippines in Baguio.

Aries A. Arugay is Professor of Political Science from the University of the Philippines in Dilimanand Visiting Fellow at the Regional Strategic and Political Studies Programme of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Asian Politics & Policy, published by Wiley-Blackwell and the US-based Policy Studies Organization and a Founding Trustee of the Foundation for the National Interest, Inc., an independent Manila-based strategic studies think-tank. Aries obtained his PhD in Political Science from Georgia State University (United States) in 2014 as a Fulbright Fellow. He obtained his MA and BA (cum laude) in Political Science from the University of the Philippines-Diliman. His fields of specialization are comparative politics, international relations, and Philippine politics. In 2020, the National Academy of Science and Technology of the Philippines awarded him as an Outstanding Young Scientist (Political Science).