Accountability and Accomplishments
In the latter weeks of July, the Philippines experienced two events that demonstrated contrasting impacts on the Filipino nation. While one event aimed to instill a sense of growth and ignite aspirations for the future, the other wreaked havoc on the lives of numerous Filipinos. Nevertheless, these events raise similar questions about accountability. From July 16 to 31, Capstone-Intel Corp., a high-impact research and actionable intelligence agency, collected trending topics online. They use social listening tools through artificial intelligence to scan more than 80 million publicly available Filipino Facebook accounts. Out of the several categories, events concerning the Second State of the Nation Address (SONA) and Typhoon Egay emerged as some of the most-searched topics online. Table 1 Top trending keywords related to recent events in the Philipines Keywords Engagement Score Egay PH 1,161,677 SONA 2023 552,001 Love the Philippines 73,716 Bagong Pilipinas 58,760 Weather Patrol 40,407 Flood Patrol 27,224 Drawing the line between resilience and accountability Just prior to the 2023 SONA, the Philippines entered its wet and rainy season, known for the arrival of typhoons. Shortly after the second SONA, the country was hit by the fifth typhoon, locally called ‘Egay’, internationally known as Doksuri, which made landfall in the northern region. Many parts of the country experienced heavy rainfall. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s latest report, the central and northern regions bore the brunt of the typhoon’s impact, affecting approximately 2.3 million individuals in 45 provinces across 13 regions and causing PHP 5.4 billion worth of damage (INQUIRER, 2023). As a result, at least 16 provinces, towns, and cities in Luzon were declared under a state of calamity (Mangosing, 2023). With yet another catastrophic disaster, the question arises: where do we draw the boundaries of Filipino resilience and start drawing the lines of accountability? As the country faces the aftermath of ‘Egay,’ it becomes crucial to assess and address the boundaries of resilience and the responsibility of relevant authorities in safeguarding the welfare of the Filipino people during times of adversity. Restrengthening disaster response On the 25th of July, PBBM delivered his second State of the Nation Address (SONA). This annual occasion holds significant importance for Filipinos as it allows the country’s chief executive to report on the government’s accomplishments and areas that need improvement. Demonstrating the relevance of the occasion to Filipinos, “sona2023” emerged as the top-searched topic online on the day of the SONA. Additionally, related topics about the administration, such as the closing tagline “bagongpilipinas” (new Philippines) and the recently launched tourism campaign “lovethephilippines,” gained attention alongside the speech. These positive impressions may have been drawn from the president’s confident declaration that the state of the nation’s improving as he narrated an overview of his administration’s first year. During the SONA, the president broached topics that centered on the global shipping industry’s green transition, the Balik-Scientist program, and the so-called circular economy. Though there was no mention of any major environmental issues such as the Mindoro oil spill back in February, he did address the country’s disaster response. The president states that it has been said that the country is sometimes over-prepared for natural disasters. Nevertheless, continuous efforts in disaster response are being performed, such as reorganizing response teams for more adaptable, agile, and effective responses and reinforcing evacuation centers. Accomplishments and Accountability In reference to the new branding of the Marcos administration, the president closed his speech with the line, “Dumating na ang Bagong Pilipinas” (the new Philippines has arrived). The Filipino citizens may yet see the promises of scientific advancement and educational investment, as delivered by the President during the SONA, manifest themselves into proactive measures that can extend the government’s efforts in providing aid and assistance in times of crisis and calamity in hopes that they do not see disasters similar to that of Typhoon Egay again. Through the capabilities of online technological innovations that facilitate more efficient data analysis, Capstone-Intel Corp. is able to provide content based on up-to-date trends and patterns. To learn more about how Capstone-Intel does this, be sure to visit the website: https://www.capstone-intel.com/
Live Streaming Tops Social Media Activities of Filipinos for Latter July 2023
In recent years, Facebook has become a staple in the lives of Filipinos. Over time, online users in the country have definitely gone beyond posting OOTDs and connecting with loved ones using Facebook. The platform’s usage among Filipino online users has significantly expanded. What exactly are the ways in which Filipinos have expanded their use of Facebook? The recent findings from Capstone Intel Corp., a high-impact research agency focusing on actionable intelligence, revealed that Facebook gathered the most engagements related to social media. The company’s use of social listening tools and artificial intelligence enables data gathering from more than 80 million publicly available Filipino Facebook accounts, providing valuable insights into recent social trends and patterns. Going Live on Facebook With the amount of time that Facebook has been present in the lives of Filipinos and on their cellular phones, it has become a source of a plethora of things for Filipinos. Its evolution is evident in its varied usage, ranging from content sharing and extensive engagement to facilitating income generation and online commerce. One of the up-and-coming SEA e-commerce trends engaged with by Filipinos can be found on the platform. Table 1 Top trending keywords in the Philippines related to social media Keywords Engagement Score Facebook Live 2,426,481 GMA Live Stream 156,278 Titos and Titas of Manila 35,831 Showtime (Mini Miss U Challenge) 31,599 A notable example of this evolution is the rising prominence of “facebooklive” as one of the most trending topics related to Facebook during the latter half of July 2023 (see Table 1). Ever since this feature was introduced, Filipinos have fully embraced this feature, using it extensively to capture events in real-time and enable synchronous interactions with online audiences. 47 percent of Facebook online sellers utilize Facebook Live in their commerce (Cahiles-Magkilat, 2023). During the pandemic, the use of Facebook Live expanded beyond entertainment purposes, encompassing online masses, webinars, and game live streaming. Moreover, an ingenious practice emerged during this time called “live-selling.” Business owners ingeniously leveraged Facebook Live to showcase and sell products in real-time, providing customers with an interactive shopping experience and, concurrently, earning income despite being confined to their homes during the lockdown. As a result, next to Shopee and TikTok, Facebook places itself among the top three live-selling channels. However, after having only taken off during the pandemic, fears were raised among live sellers when Meta announced the shutdown of Facebook’s Live Shopping feature. However, fears were quelled when Meta clarified that the shutdown did not affect the regular Facebook Live feature, which Filipinos had been using for live selling. Besides, the Live Shopping feature was never available in the Philippines to begin with. Compared to other areas of Southeast Asia, the Philippines hosts online entrepreneurs that conduct longer hours of daily live selling. Though the quick adaptation of this feature by Filipino retailers is remarkable, it is necessary to recognize that this is only one of the many other ways Filipinos have navigated through Facebook and its features. And Facebook isn’t the only place e-commerce thrives as online sellers in the Philippines are also known to use multiple platforms with live selling in order to gain a wider reach among shoppers in the online marketplace. Spaces online and through social media have evolved beyond the initial perceptions of their functions for communication and into the world of marketing tactics for e-commerce sellers. Filipinos can be expected to continue to skillfully navigate and utilize digital platforms such as Facebook as we have seen them do so in recent years.
