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Bantay Halalan 2024 Seminar reflection

Being lured to the opportunity to hear Ms. Sandra Aguinaldo's talk, one of the journalist I am looking up to, I eagerly attended the seminar even through virtual conferencing. Interestingly, the seminar ended with me gaining valuable insights on the intricacies of the contemporary Philippine political landscape, deeply resonating with some of our lectures in POSC165, a political science course I am taking this semester. Moreover, the discussion in the seminar also highlighted how misinformation can be very lethal especially as the elections are near, and the role of citizen journalism on empowering political awareness and fostering informed voters.

With the 2025 elections coming up, the seminar, “Political Reportage in the Age of Disinformation” last November 25th highlighted the importance for the masses to encourage meaningful conversations about politics, the role and responsibilities of the elected leaders, and collaborate with other stakeholders to protect the country’s democracy, as Ma'am Theia emphasized.

It is no doubt that the Philippines is a great victim of misinformation as greatly manifested during the campaign period during the 2022 elections. The great exposure and acknowledgement of the presence of disinformation, fake news, and even historical distortion in the Philippine media landscape are still not enough to combat its negative effects among Filipinos. Hence, seminars like this one that is hosted by both Department of Development Journalism (DDJ) and the Department of Development Broadcasting and Telecommunication (DDBT) remains relevant and essential more than ever to provide impactful actions on combatting distortion of information for the advantage of the influential ones. With this seminar, I am deeply considering to lend a hand and volunteer for the reportage of Bantay Halalan for the 2025 elections.

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Flash Forward 2024 reflection

With all honesty, Diana and I did not initially planned on attending this UPLB ADS event, as the next day is our 2nd quiz on DEVC127 Lecture. But with great desperation to at least secure some extra points for the quiz, we impulsively attended the event.

From coming inside the lecture hall with nothing in mind but a hope of not having a zero score, we walked out of the room with something more valuable– an abundance of insights and realizations from the two inspiring speakers who are practicing DevCom in the field of education and disaster risk reduction management.

Throughout this experience, it was Ms. Tolinero-Barraquias talk that resonated with me the most, as it mirrors the path I envision for myself after graduation–being a DevCom educator.

As she recounts her life story in choosing Devcom as her degree program, then to the impactful projects she spearheaded as a university instructor, I observed how she showed so much enthusiasm on sharing this to the audience. What stood out most was her warmth, especially how she expressed earnest appreciation for the field and its role in addressing the needs of communities through a grassroots approach.

This talk deeply comforted me as it gave me an assurance how DevCom students like us will be given diverse career opportunities no matter what fields we intend to explore in the future.

After all, as long as there is a need for progress, there will always be a space for Development Communication to shine as a potent tool for achieving it.