“They called us many things back then—trolls, hacks, noise. But those labels were just a convenient way to dismiss a groundswell that the established media refused to see. Looking back at the 2016 campaign, what I remember most isn’t the technology or the platforms; it was the sheer, raw passion of the people.
In this third installment of Edwin Espejo’s series, he captures that momentum perfectly. It wasn’t manufactured; it was organic. It was the work of groups like CinEmotion and Mugstoria, and the thousands of everyday Filipinos who realized they finally had a voice. My role was simply to help weave those threads together, to provide a structure for that incredible, bubbling energy. This chapter isn’t just about the mechanics of the campaign—it’s about the people who made it happen, and why, despite all the attempts to discredit it, that movement fundamentally changed the political landscape for good.”
Nic Gabunada Jr.
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Decapitating the ‘trolls’ of Duterte
Third of a series
By Edwin Espejo
June 29, 2021
By the middle of the 2016 campaign period, Facebook engagement of Duterte supporters rose to record levels never before seen in Philippine social media landscape.
Among the early Duterte supporters is Mocha Uson, whose Facebook account grew to over a million likes and followers by the time the presidential campaign raced towards the finish line.
Other bloggers like Thinking Pinoy and Sass Rogando Sasot likewise contributed but did not come fully on board the Duterte machinery until the Duterte campaign push gained momentum.
Gabunada’s team of videographers however consistently provided the compelling and captivating images of that momentum. At that time, Facebook did not yet have a live feed section. It was Duterte’s video groups CinEmotion Digital Films_Official and Rody Duterte: The Real Change which rushed in same-day-edits of Duterte’s campaign sorties. In Visayas, it was Mugstoria who ignited and kept the social media flame burning for the Duterte camp.
They brought in powerful images of the people massing up during rallies, something the established media downplayed or even ignored. His camp’s pool of writers churned out stories and releases morning, afternoon and well into the night even if the press deadline were long over and the pages already closed.
In practically all cities and provinces throughout the country, netizens formed their own Duterte groups, often times crisscrossing members with several networks.
With the Duterte campaign in full crescendo, reaching out to and consolidating them was a breeze. They became warm bodies who shared articles, images and My Duterte stories that seldom found spaces and airtimes from established media.
Gabunada played a key and primary role in harnessing these social media forces although there are a handful more who chose to remain in the background and coy about revealing their roles in the Duterte social media operations.
