By Carla Adeline E. Via
In an effort towards a clean and efficient 2025 midterm elections, ABS-CBN and its election partners, including Silliman University (SU), held a covenant signing ceremony last Jan. 12.
This marked the university’s second election partnership with the media giant following the 2022 ABS-CBN Bayan Mo, Ipatrol Mo and the SU – College of Mass Communication (CMC) fact-checking workshop webinars and election reporting.
For this year’s partnership , CMC Dean Dr. Madeline Quiamco said that they are working to improve these initiatives, highlighting the restrictions set in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unlike the 2022 workshop which was held online via Zoom, the CMC aims to bring a more “hands-on” experience to about 40 to 50 participating students this year.
Moreover, mass communication interns are to be trained as correspondents to guarantee “no foul play” and to “transmit prompt results” from Negros Oriental to ABS-CBN during the election day.
CMC is eyeing no more than ten volunteers for the election coverage due to the limited resources of SU and ABS-CBN.
SU is also directly coordinating with ABS-CBN Corporation Campaign and Training Officer Elizabeth Judith Panelo in organizing these initiatives.
SU-CMC alumnus Gilmore Leaño, who represented the university in the covenant signing ceremony, expressed his willingness to be involved with any activities arranged following the official partnership.
Leaño said that his door is “always open for any [project] that could contribute to the betterment of the Filipino people.”
He also shared about the SU community’s active engagement with national and local politics.
“I believe that the SU student body is an active community during elections. Just check the social media platforms during election season—Sillimanians are actively expressing their opinions, advocacies, and resistance to any corrupt, unjustifiable, or inhumane practices in the government,” he said.