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Attended by 150 students and professors of political science in Arellano University, the forum served to introduce the values and principles of centrist democracy.

Dr. Nenita Manongsong, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, welcomed the guests and participants to the forum. She stated that the primary objective of the forum is to create a venue for political dialogue among the youth and young professionals along the lines of introducing centrist democracy as a political framework, being founded on human dignity, which could facilitate genuine change and reforms in the Philippines.

Mr. Lito Lorenzana, convenor of the Centrist Democratic Movement Federation, delivered a speech on the current state of Philippine politics and the challenges faced by the successor generation. He emphasized that the lessons from the failures of the past generation in institutionalizing reforms must be harnessed by the successor generation. By doing so, the present generation would contribute immensely to changing the political and economic landscape. Furthermore, he urged the students and professors present in the forum to engage each other in a political dialogue and use the technology of the day in order to elevate the level of awareness on social and political issues.

Dr. Peter Koeppinger, Resident Representative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, shared his observations about the state of democracy in the Philippines and how we must strive to improve it in order to ensure the dignity of every Filipino. He observed that the lack of a system that facilitates genuine representation and exacting accountability from local and national leaders, among others, are indicators of failures of the democratic system. He underscored the need to establish functional political parties to act as a mechanism that would aggregate the interests of the people and articulate and communicate it to the government. Though the German model of political parties may be appreciated as a model to be studied, Dr. Koeppinger said that the Philippines must evolve its own system that is best suited to its culture.

Mrs. Diana Afable-Lorenzo, Chairman of the Centrist Democratic Movement –Manila, formally closed the program by inviting the students and professors to be a part of CDM Manila. More than a venue for political dialogue, Mrs. Afable-Lorenzo said that the CDM presents a viable framework of presenting political and institutional changes in the Philippines that would ensure the dignity of every Filipino.