Philippine elections
Philippine elections

Rappler coverage: Citizens front and center in ‘most engaged’ PH polls

Rappler.com
Rappler coverage: Citizens front and center in ‘most engaged’ PH polls
An engaged and empowered public voted for the Philippines' new leaders, and an engaged and empowered public will continue to watch their leaders' every move

MANILA, Philippines – #PHvote 2016: As soon as it happened, you saw it on-screen – unscripted, raw, and real-time. In your work laptops, your home computers, your cell phones, your tablets. On Facebook, Twitter, Viber, Instagram, YouTube, and more. 

You listened as we talked to the newsmakers of the day – Rodrigo Duterte reacting to his already wide lead in the presidential race, Leni Robredo as she prepared for election day, Bongbong Marcos on what he called “anomalous” numbers after he lost his early lead over Robredo. 

 

Top-of-the-hour video reports, side by side with our elections live stream coverage, kept readers updated on events as they unfolded.

 

 

Rappler’s live blog followed developments by the second as reporters hit the ground running, wherever the candidates were. 

 

Often, reporters shared behind-the-scenes moments – powerful remembrances in an emotionally charged and challenging election season. 

 

Rappler journalists, often with guests, went over the details and their implications, in a bid to bring you a clearer picture amid the flurry of news and headlines.

 

Grace Poe’s camp clarified their reaction to Mar Roxas’ invitation to talk. We brought you the reaction from the Liberal Party camp right after. Alan Peter Cayetano weighed in with thoughts on the mood before election day and what a Duterte presidency might look like, amid the controversy of a negative ad, which he said was part of “a bigger conspiracy” against Duterte. 

 

As candidates rallied their supporters for a last push at their various miting de avance events, we brought you every development. On Rappler, viewers watched it all in one place. 

Through it all, our newsroom buzzed with the pulse of social media. Rappler collaborated with Facebook and Twitter to bring you insights into which topics and personalities were the most discussed online. Facebook later said that the Philippines had the most engaged elections of the Asia-Pacific region. 

 

The impact was just as felt on Twitter. “In many ways this election represents the collective personality and purpose of the Philippines,” said Twitter executive Rishi Jaitly. 

Social media reports pointed out trending memes, controversial Twitter fights, and even the emergence of some unexpected (but perhaps not unwelcome) spin-offs from the election-day events.

Results, live  

As soon as election results became available to the public, it was on Rappler, reported real time.

Citizens reported election incidents, pinning their reports on the #PHVoteWatch map. Citizen journalists and Rappler Movers reported goings-on in their area, working hard to bring relevant events to light. 


 

Viewers closely followed each race, whether national or their own local races, and watched our results map to see who won in which city or province. 

Later, as the vice presidential race took the spotlight and cheating allegations flew, analysts and social media users referred to Rappler’s #PHVote results to guide them as they made their cases. 

It was a thoroughly engaged public, and it started months before, as politicians began filing their certificates of candidacy and later stepped out to campaign.

Photo by Czeasar Dancel/Rappler

This election year, Rappler got up close and personal. You wouldn’t only read about what candidates said or did. Through our reporters’ social media feeds, you could hear candidates make statements, see what happened with your own eyes, often as it happened. 

Here’s Bea Cupin, right in front capturing Mar Roxas’ emotional concession speech. 


 

On the ground, in the thick of things, crouching in the trenches, our reporters brought you as close as possible to the action, picking up many tidbits about the candidates.

Here is Camille Elemia tailing Grace Poe all the way to her miting de avance at Plaza Miranda, Saturday, May 7. 


 

Reporter Mara Cepeda’s view – tailing Binay to his voting precinct election day, May 9. 

Vice President Jejomar Binay casts his vote on May 9, 2016 in Makati City. #PHVote

A photo posted by Mara Cepeda (@maracepeda) on


 

Here’s Pia Ranada, talking to Rodrigo Duterte’s former schoolmates in Maasin, Leyte, where he was born. 


 

And Patty Pasion, catching up with Bongbong Marcos as he prepared to campaign in Mindanao. 


 

These include behind-the-scenes nuggets about the candidates that would later make it to our various profiles.

Each presidential and vice presidential candidate got one, plus a to-fix list that talks about their stance and plans about various issues.

It isn’t over yet. An engaged and empowered public voted for the Philippines’ new leaders, and an engaged and empowered public will continue to watch their leaders’ every move.

We’ve seen how this chapter has unfolded. Now, together, let’s turn the page. – Rappler.com

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