Filipino bloggers start initiative for voters' education

MANILA, Philippines - Blog Watch (www.blogwatch.ph), a blogger’s portal created to keep the Internet-savvy public aware of election issues, was launched recently launched by Vibal Foundation in cooperation with the Philippine Online Chronicles.

Sixteen bloggers have initially been tapped to form Blog Watch to cover topics such as election automation, campaign finance and candidates’ personal and political backgrounds.

“We want to cover underplayed stories which do not get much coverage in mainstream media but are no less important,” said project organizer Noemi Lardizabal-Dado. “One of our key topics, for instance, is campaign finance. We want to advocate vigilance on the candidates’ campaign spending as this would impact directly on their governance upon assumption to office.”

The 15 other bloggers include Mary Jane Cecilia Uymatiao, Sonnie Santos, Bernadine Racoma, Vince Golangco, Carlo Ople, Marck Rimorin, Rochelle Sy Chua, Juned Sonido, Fritz Tentativa, Leslie Bocobo, Brian Ong, Pierre Galla, Victor Villanueva, Dean Jorge Bocobo, Karen Ang, Wyatt Belmonte and Myrna Rodriguez Co.

More bloggers are expected to join Blog Watch’s roster soon.

Blog Watch also makes use of popular social media sites such as Twitter and Plurk.

“The Internet is limitless,” said Ed Lingao, of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), which trained some of the bloggers on the 2010 elections.  “This provides opportunities for new media to work together with traditional media, to spur discussion and debate on election issues.”

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