The 2022 Philippine presidential race is getting crowded.

Of
the dozens of candidates who have filed their paperwork, there
are five front-runners: Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.,
Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao, Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domgaoso,
Christopher “Bong” Go, and Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo.
Meanwhile, the Philippines is struggling to emerge from the
worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. With only about one third of
the population fully vaccinated, a presidential campaign’s
ability to effectively utilize social media and dominate
digital spaces will be instrumental in shaping national
opinion. Government lockdowns also make it difficult to hold
traditional, in-person campaign events. Candidates, therefore,
will rely even more on social media to reach out to voters
than in previous elections.

Social media is a fundamental force in Philippine society. It

is a convenient and accessible means of consuming content,
especially since internet connectivity is often slow and
unreliable. The accessibility of social media makes it a prime
platform for swaying public opinion. Consequently, political
actors are willing to do anything to capture the public’s
attention.

Over 90 percent of Filipinos with access to the internet are

on social media. Facebook and YouTube dominate the country. As
of 2021, about 81 percent of the Philippine population is on
Facebook. Meanwhile, 85 percent of Filipinos with access to
the internet watch YouTube. The average Filipino internet
user spent nearly four hours on social media every day.
Facebook has been deeply entrenched in Philippine society
largely thanks to its initiatives to expand into developing
countries. Facebook Basics, introduced in 2013, partnered with
local carriers to offer Facebook with zero data charges.
Consequently, Facebook became the de facto internet for many
Filipinos.

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A 2017 survey found that Filipinos with internet
access trust social media more than mainstream media: 87
percent of these respondents claimed to trust information
found on social media. But with unreliable internet coverage
and the rest of the web effectively paywalled, it is very
difficult for Filipinos to fact-check what they see on their
Facebook feed or in Messenger, WhatsApp, and Viber chats, even
if they want to.

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Facebook is under increasing scrutiny for being perceived as

a threat to democracy. Due to the Philippines’ strong
connection to Facebook, the social media company opened an
office in Manila in 2016. Throughout the internet and
especially in the Philippines, “trolls” who post inflammatory
content online for attention, are ubiquitous. They gather on
online spaces like Facebook to spread misinformation,
occasionally working in concert as a “misinformation army” or
“troll army.” Often, these trolls are not even real people.

Initially, Facebook did nothing about them. In response to

criticism of its laissez-faire approach to misinformation, the
company has since taken down hundreds of offending pages.
However, it is unclear if these actions will do anything to
hamper trolls and their misinformation armies. The
disinformation spread by trolls is not limited to news feeds.
Instant messaging apps like WhatsApp, Viber, and Facebook
Messenger are prime platforms for fake news and
misinformation. As they are private interactions, they are
even more difficult to regulate than the main Facebook
platform.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign was the first to tap into

social media virality in the Philippines. Under the
instruction of his social media manager, Nic Gabunada,
Duterte’s campaign employed an army of internet trolls tasked
to “amplify” his message throughout Philippine cyberspace.
These trolls spread propaganda for Duterte, and continue to
spread messages supporting his policies.

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With 2016 being the Philippines’ first “social media
election,” the hotly contested 2022 elections may prove to be
a more dramatic second act. After the shocking success of
Duterte’s social media campaign, misinformation is embedded
even deeper in Philippine society. This has been exacerbated
by the Covid-19 pandemic, during which misinformation posed
a threat to government public health initiatives. Trolls are
now endemic to Philippine cyberspace: companies, celebrities,
and politicians alike employ trolls to smear opponents or
create the appearance of a fervent fanbase. They are
frequently hired by politicians to fight on their behalf.
Often, they create a veneer of support through seemingly
organic tweets by “real” people. Teams of hired trolls
impersonate real people over multiple SIM cards and social
media accounts to amplify and spread misinformation while
drowning out opposition.

The candidates in next year’s elections inherit the after-

effects of Duterte’s chaotic social media campaigns.
Candidates and their supporters have either leaned into these
tactics or repudiated them. Manila mayor Isko Moreno has put
his own spin on Duterte-style demagoguery, decrying “decent”
and “moralistic” establishment Liberal Party politicians.
He reacted aggressively to the #WithdrawIsko hashtag
circulated by supporters of Leni Robredo, using a press
conference to smear the vice president and her backers.
Naturally, Robredo supporters returned fire on Twitter,
perpetuating the cycle of social media toxicity.

Meanwhile, Bongbong Marcos and his family continue to work

behind the scenes to modernize the misinformation campaigns
they have been spreading for decades. Facebook pages, YouTube
channels, and influencers amplify claims that alter public
perception of the Marcos family, often downplaying or denying
the kleptocracy and human rights violations of the Martial Law
era. Marcos’s campaign has come under fire for “whitewashing”
his father’s brutal regime as a “golden age” for the
Philippines, all the while perpetuating myths and
exaggerations about the Marcos family that go back to the
1960s when the elder Marcos was president.

Social media-borne misinformation threatens to sow further

division in Philippine society and politics. As such, the 2022
elections will be a tough fight for each candidate. The right
balance of outrage, virality, misinformation, and trolling
might be enough to tip the scales in any candidate’s favor as
only a bare plurality is required to win the presidency. The
stakes for this election are high: Philippine voters will
decide if the country weakens or strengthens its democratic
institutions.

The 2022 Philippine presidential and vice-presidential

elections are scheduled to be held on Monday, May 9, 2022, as
part of that year's general election. This will be the 17th
direct presidential election and 16th vice presidential
election in the Philippines since 1935, and the
seventh sextennial presidential and vice presidential election
since 1986.

Incumbent president Rodrigo Duterte is ineligible for re-

election as he is limited to a single term, under the 1987
Philippine Constitution. The position of president and vice
president are elected separately; the two winning candidates
could thus come from different political parties.