Following the Philippine 2016 elections.. from overseas

It’s the first time in six years when I am not in any way producing any stories about the Philippine elections and perhaps, the most difficult for me.

Disclosure: I used to work for Yahoo and in both the 2010 and 2013 elections, and was directly involved in programming its pages dedicated to said polls.

And oh, another big difference, I am following the elections from Singapore where I’m currently based.

I am following the elections for obvious reasons, I need to decide who I’m willing to entrust the next six years (and the future) of our country to. Like any major life decision such as getting a new job, or buying a house or getting married, the leadership of our country has a ton of implications on our lives and the next generation’s and something I don’t take lightly.

So, how do I do it?

The most obvious reason is of course the internet. There’s Twitter, always useful when there are debates and every single statement gets tweeted, multiple times (because I follow almost all of the established news sources). There’s Facebook, which is how I discover which of my friends are supporters of which candidates, because they strongly campaign for them using that platform. There’s Instagram where some people I follow posts or reports photos of their chosen candidates. There are the news websites, who I have bookmarked and who I religiously visit to check headlines.

And then of course, there are the “unwritten” stories from friends who are involved in the campaigns, either by covering a particular candidate or supporting one.

The biggest challenge lately is verifying whether a story is true or not.

We, Filipinos, love our social feeds. Nine years after I first logged in on Facebook, I still see a lot of my friends sharing the most mundane thing to the most intimate details of their lives (blame the introvert in me!).

What bothers me even more is that stories from unverified and satire websites get shared, a lot. And let’s admit it, not everyone will bother to check whether it’s true or not. Believe me I know, I’ve been burned a couple of times too.

But wait, what about the bigger news organizations?

They are perhaps the most equipped when it comes to delivering the stories we need to know. What most people don’t realize is that gathering the stories also depends on how organize one’s campaign is.

If candidate A has the machinery and ensures that reporters from all news organizations are in all its campaign sorties, given enough time to ask questions and get answers, then it’s easier to get the story out.

Now if candidate B, for whatever reason, lacks machinery and is not organized, then it’s harder for reporters to get the story out. And I know a lot of journalists in the field who have made sacrifices to get the story out.

Of course, these assumptions discount the possibilities that there may be biases and I’m not in a position to make a comment on that.

The other problem that news organizations face is this: They’re competing not just against each other, but basically against anything that grabs a users’ attention.

Reading an analysis on Supreme Court’s decision on Grace Poe’s disqualification case vs. Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris’ photos from their island getaway? No brainer.

Yes, it’s a tough world out there.

So what can or should you do?

The onus is on us to inform ourselves. Assume that not everything you read is NOT true. Verify. Challenge a story. Ask the people you know especially those that are directly affected by a certain candidate. Read. Research. Compare.

When you’re buying a gadget, you compare options, read reviews, look at pros and cons. It’s almost the same thing, except the stakes are way way bigger.

Following the elections from outside the country is tough but it’s for our future and the next generation’s, and it deserves all the time in the world.