The brown bag session on the Influence of Social Media on Understanding Democracy, spearheaded by the ADNU Center for Local Governance together with the Philippine Observatory on Democracy (POD), was successfully conducted online on April 8, 2025, from 3:00-5:00 PM via Zoom. The event brought together a panel of reactors, encompassing representatives from the academe, local government, business, and civil society, to discuss the research conducted by the consortium, with research presenters Mr. Kier Jesse Ballar and Ms. Misha Segarra from the Ateneo Policy Center. The collaborative effort was brought by the entire consortium from Luzon to Mindanao: Ateneo de Manila University with John J. Carroll Institute on Church and Social Issues, Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan, Ateneo de Naga University, Ateneo de Davao University, Ateneo de Zamboanga University, and Xavier University–Ateneo de Cagayan.
The brown bag session, streamed live via AdNU-Center for Local Governance Facebook Page and Ateneo CLG YouTube channel, garnered a wide audience nationwide approximately 3,000 combined online viewers, as of writing.
The brown bag session was moderated by Mr. John Michael Revilla, Guidance Counselor of the Graduate School, and OIC-Coordinator of Student Activities of the ADNU Senior High School. His adept facilitation has ensured the smooth progression of the discussions, providing a structured and inclusive environment for all speakers to contribute meaningfully in the brown bag session.
Dr. Malu C. Barcillano, Director of Ateneo de Naga’s Center for Local Governance, and Dean of the Graduate School, gracefully commenced a brown bag session on social media’s impact on democratic understanding, a collaboration between CLG and POD Consortium, led by Ateneo de Manila University and other universities. She underscored POD’s aim to study citizen views on democracy and introduced the speakers, Kier Jesse Ballar and Misha Segarra, along with the panel. Referencing social media as a “powerful tool,” Dr. Barcillano posed a question about its effect on understanding democracy based on the presenters’ research. She then wished the participants an insightful discussion on this important topic.
The Philippine Observatory on Democracy (POD), which Ms. Misha Segarra also described in detail, highlights the relevance of social media literacy of Filipinos stemming from the level they use social media in the Philippines as a case study for democracy. As a Research Coordinator at Ateneo Policy Center, Ateneo de Manila University, she elaborated on the study’s objective, which is to capture and sculpt civic behaviors alongside identifying the perceptions of democracy and democratic aspirations of the respondents. How social media as a modern form of communication influences these basic aspects of democracy is essential. Democratic practice relies on how social media shapes information access, its use in public opinion formation, its connection to disinformation (one of the biggest threats), and whether those social media practices uphold democratic values. This POD study using surveys seeks to aid in understanding the state of democracy comprehension of the people in the country and help formulate policies that will aid democracy.
Mr. Kier Jesse Ballar from the Ateneo Policy Center shared initial insights from a study examining how urban Filipinos understand democracy. The research delved into their perceptions, observed civic behaviors, and their vision for an ideal democracy. Key findings indicated that a notable segment surprisingly held democratic views of leaders often considered authoritarian. When defining democracy, Filipinos associated it with both positive concepts like freedom and governance and negative ones such as chaos. The study also highlighted a significant discrepancy between the perceived current state of democracy and their ideal, with local satisfaction being higher. Major challenges identified included corruption and the widespread issue of fake news. Voting was found to be the most common form of democratic participation, while a considerable number believed a strong president could improve democratic function. Finally, the research pointed to traditional television and social media as the primary sources of political news for this population. These initial findings laid the groundwork for the subsequent discussion focusing on the specific impact of social media on these understandings.
Ma. FIlipinas H. Bana, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and Faculty of the Graduate School at Ateneo de Naga University, has reacted to the information that was presented by Ms. Misha and Mr. Kier’s rich and insightful study, and she is quite interested to know the qualitative part of the study and the final set of conclusions for their study. She also reacted to civic engagement and how the people manifest their preference for democracy. Furthermore, she had her own opinion about how social media practices may change if we improve the way the public would really understand democracy.
Agnete Jonathan G. Noble, Acting Division Head and Social Media Manager, Digital Communications Division of the LGU-Naga City Events, Protocol, and Public Information Office, shared his perspective as someone whose work heavily involves social media. He found it notable that Filipinos are seeking to understand democracy. He expressed disagreement with the study’s initial conclusions suggesting a lack of understanding of democratic ideals among Filipinos, finding this point intriguing. Regarding social media weaponization, he noted Filipinos’ awareness of its dangers, which he interpreted as a sign that they are not easily swayed by manipulation tactics online.
Agapito C. Rubio, Jr., DBA, the Secretary-General of Metro Naga Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that social media reduces the cost of advertising and can reach a wider audience. According to Dr. Rubio, the role of social media in the business sector is neutral, with an objective to be purely informational and conversational to connect to the people. He emphasized the importance of social media in the development of the daily lives of the people, while also noting how it could present harm in its misuse, such as the propagation of unverified sources. He also said that as an important institution in society, the business sector ought to maintain its level of security in protecting the flow of verified information.
Keren Anne Bernadas, a writer in the Philippine Information Agency in Region V, requested a recommendation of the study on how the government, the PCO, or the PIA can do better in their social media strategies as part of the study to help the public understand and influence their political decisions to achieve the kind of democracy wherein the public helps their own society into having a very good socioeconomic situation.
Acknowledgement
The ADNU Center for Local Governance and the Philippine Observatory on Democracy (POD) express their gratitude to all who contributed to the successful online brown bag session on the “Influence of Social Media in Understanding Democracy” held on April 8, 2025.
Mr. Ariel Malate and Ms. Camille Faye R. Badong, Technical Staff of the ADNU Center for Local Governance spearheaded the excellent planning, organization, and implementation of the event. As Ms. Badong led the planning of the event, Mr. Malate worked hand in hand with her in covering the logistics and technical aspects of the event’s execution. Alongside them in the event planning and implementation were the student interns of the office, Marvin Cayetano from college, and Amber Colleen Oloya and Brent Casey Directo from the Senior high School.
The insightful research presented by Mr. Kier Jesse Ballar and Ms. Misha Segarra from the Ateneo Policy Center was central to the discussion. Their work sparked valuable reactions from the distinguished panel: Ma. Filipinas H. Bana, Ph.D. (Ateneo de Naga University); Mr. Agnete Jonathan G. Noble (CEPPIO-Local Government Unit of Naga); Mr. Agapito C. Rubio, Jr., DBA (Metro Naga Chamber of Commerce and Industry); and Ms. Keren Anne Bernadas (Philippine Information Agency Region V).
Special thanks are extended to Mr. Sherwin Perez from the James O’Brien Library at Ateneo de Naga University for his invaluable technical support, which ensured the smooth execution of the event that reached a wide online audience. The collaborative spirit highlighted the POD project’s ongoing commitment to understanding democracy in the Philippines.
To watch the replay of the webinar, please refer to these links:
By:
Marvin DJ. Cayetano, Brent Casey G. Directo, and Amber Colleen T. Oloya
Student Intern
