More #PiliPinasDebates2016 tweets for Cebu debate than CDO

Rappler Social Media Team

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More #PiliPinasDebates2016 tweets for Cebu debate than CDO
Over 1.6 million tweets are sent as Filipinos weigh in on the second presidential debate for the May 2016 elections

MANILA, Philippines – More than 1.6 million tweets about the second presidential debate were posted from 4:30 pm to 9:30 pm on Sunday, March 20, higher than the 1.3 million tweets during the first debate last month.

#PiliPinasDebates2016 again became the top Twitter trending topic not only in the Philippines, but also worldwide.​

The political showdown featured Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senator G​race Poe,​ Davao City Mayor R​odrigo Duterte,​ and former interior secretary M​anuel Roxas II at the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu. Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago had begged off to join a clinical trial for an anti-cancer pill.

But even before the 4 presidential candidates took the stage – and precisely because the event started very late – Filipinos were already making their voices heard on Twitter.

Their top question: Why the delay?

Because of the flurry of tweets, user­-generated hashtag #PiliPinasDeLate quickly trended nationwide. 

Even the candidates took to Twitter to express their views on the delay. 



 

The Twitter conversation peaked at over 16,000 tweets per minute around 6:49 pm during the heated exchange between Poe and Binay on the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill. 

  

Among all the issues covered during the second debate, it was “freedom of information and rule of law” that registered the most interest on Twitter with 32% of the tweets.

This was followed by crime, tax reform, Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), and climate change. 


 

At the start of the debate, Binay dominated the conversation. This was triggered by the notes mix-up with TV5 news chief Luchi Cruz Valdes, who initially told the Vice President that he could bring notes onstage, unaware of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) rule prohibiting this.

Duterte began leading the Twitter conversation during the second half when the candidates posed questions to each other and gave their closing statements. 

TWITTER BUZZ. Share of Voice on Twitter during the 2nd #PiliPinasDebates2016 (March 20).


 

 

Meanwhile, Santiago’s camp used Twitter to “participate” in the debate and respond to questions real-time. In a tweet, the senator also thanked her volunteers who watched the debate in Cebu even though she wasn’t there.



 

The most shared tweets included one on the hilarious way that people thought Santiago would have reacted if she were watching​ the second leg of the #PiliPinasDebates2016​.





 

Pratiksha Rao, Twitter’s head for media partnerships for Southeast Asia, noted the higher level of engagement for the second debate.

“As we continue amplifying the sentiments of Filipinos over their presidential candidates, Twitter is giving each voter a voice to be heard by their fellow citizens to make a more informed voting decision,” said Rao.

“The second run of the #PiliPinasDebates2016 saw a higher level of engagement and tweets than the first debate, proving that more and more Filipinos are joining the election conversation, analyzing the debates, and responding in real­-time to the candidates’ answers, all on Twitter,” she added.

Filipinos can participate in the ongoing elections­-related conversations by following #PHVote on Twitter; reporting campaign violence, violations, and vote-buying using #PHVoteWatch; and tweeting support for their presidential bet using #PHVote + candidate’s surname


 

– with reports from Stacy de Jesus/Rappler.com

Data from Twitter

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