Part three of seven. Edwin Espejo published this series on Facebook in June and July 2021. It is republished here in full and lightly copyedited; the introduction below is mine, not his. I am a subject of the series as well as its publisher. It concerns the 2016 campaign and not subsequent events, including the proceedings now before the International Criminal Court. Full editorial note and series index →

Introduction by Nic Gabunada

They called us many things back then — trolls, hacks, noise. Those labels were a convenient way to avoid seeing a groundswell the established media had already decided was not there.

What I remember from 2016 is not the technology or the platforms. It was the raw passion of people who had never been asked before.

Edwin captures that momentum in this third installment. It was not manufactured. It was the work of groups like CinEmotion and Mugstoria, and of thousands of ordinary Filipinos who realized they finally had somewhere to speak. My role was to help weave those threads together and give a structure to energy that was already bubbling on its own.

This part of the series is about the people who were part of the movement that made it happen.

— Nic Gabunada

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, oftentimes 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.

(To be continued)

Edwin Espejo is a journalist based in General Santos City who has written for Asian Correspondent and MindaNews and shoots for Agence France-Presse. He chaired the General Santos City chapter of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, and in 2012 was sued for ₱75 million by then-congressman Manny Pacquiao over his reporting. He served as a commissioner of the National Commission of Senior Citizens from January 2021 to April 2026, including when this series was written. Fuller biographical note →

Notes:

Decapitating the ‘trolls’ of Duterte — Edwin Espejo’s seven-part series

Part 1 — Decapitating the ‘trolls’ of Duterte: A 7-Part Retrospective

Part 2 — The Anatomy of a Disconnect: Why the ‘Troll’ Narrative Failed to Explain 2016

Part 3 — The Unseen Momentum: Rewriting the Rules of Engagement (you are here)

Part 4 — A Target Board Over My Back

Part 5 — The Story That Comes Back Every Election Season

Part 6 — The Ad Men Can Only Be as Good as the Product

Part 7 — Beyond the ‘Troll’ Label: A Reality Check for the Opposition

This post was first published  on March 21, 2024. My introduction has been revised. The original text has been lightly copyedited for typographical errors. No argument, characterization or judgment in Edwin Espejo’s original has been altered.