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MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) has teamed up with Rappler to empower Filipinos to directly reach the poll body through a public chat room.
On Thursday, June 6, Comelec and Rappler launched the Voter Hotline channel or chat room on the Rappler Communities app, the first news app in the world to have chat rooms.
The new chat room was launched in the Rappler newsroom during a live Comelec demonstration of the new automated counting machines (ACMs) that will be used for the 2025 midterm elections and the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, also happening next year. Comelec Chairperson George Garcia led the demonstration.
The Voter Hotline channel is a public chat room where anyone will be able to directly ask questions to the Comelec by tagging one of the poll body’s Education and Information Department staff who are part of the chat room.
Comelec staff in the Voter Hotline chat room
Around 10 Comelec staff were onboarded to the chat room by Rappler civic engagement arm MovePH on Thursday. They were given moderator status, which will allow them to pin messages to the top of the channel, respond to other chat room users, and notify all chat room users of announcements. As moderators, they can also flag messages.
The Voter Hotline channel is now available on the Rappler Communities app and can be entered by anyone who has downloaded the app. The app is free and available on web, iOS, and Android.
“It’s not just politicians we are monitoring. As we know, there is disinformation. So, partnering with Comelec now and giving them the venue and the platform to inform voters and the public at large about their processes, about their activities, is our contribution to empowering the voters,” said Rappler Managing Editor Miriam Grace Go during the demo.
“Ang aking laging pinapanindigan, dapat palaging nagpapaliwanag ang Comelec. Dapat nag-e-explain, at in a language na understandable ng ordinaryong kababayan natin,” said Garcia.
(What I have always advocated for is that the Comelec must always be providing explanations. We must explain, and in a language understandable to ordinary citizens.)
During the demo, Garcia explained the different systems to be used during the 2025 polls, including the system to be deployed for overseas voters. Volunteers from the audience also got to feed their ballots into the new voting machines supplied by South Korean firm Miru Systems. The Comelec chief sought to give assurances about the voting machines amid allegations hounding Miru.
Watch the entire demonstration and the open forum here. – Rappler.com
You can find the Voter Hotline chat room by downloading the Rappler Communities app, tapping the Community tab at the bottom, and looking for the Voter Hotline icon in the menu of chat rooms.
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