How conversation floated around Philippine elections in Twitter

Filipinos have been actively joining the conversation on Twitter soon as the Philippine Midterm Elections season kicked off. From senatorial debates to political campaigns, people have been using the platform to express their opinions on the candidates and their platforms, their insights on relevant issues, as well as to educate and learn about the electoral process. The public discourse on the 2019 National and Local Elections (#NLE2019) continues as the nation keeps an eye on the official results.The most-Tweeted about candidates from January 1 – May 31, 2019 were as follows:  1) Samira Gutoc; 2) Chel Diokno; 3) Neri Colmenares; 4) Pilo Hilbay; and 5) Erin Tanada.The Tweet from @shernanxx was the most popular Tweet on voting day, sharing a quote from the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago. It has been Retweeted more than 24,000 times up until today. Below are the top Tweets from yesterday’s voting day.Candidates have also been actively using the platform to connect with the general public on a more personal level, as well as to express their stand on issues and advocacies. Among the candidates, Samira Gutoc (@SamiraGutoc) emerged as the most talked about on Twitter during the election season  (1 January – 13 May 2019). She used the platform to continuously show gratitude to her followers and supporters, as well as to show her grit and bravery as she shared her stance on national issues.The political discussion varied from different stances, senatorial debates to other relevant matters around the elections such as peace and order, war on drugs and education. Here are the Top Hashtags that trended during the election season: 1) #Halalan2019;  2) #Eleksiyon2019; 3) #Eleksyon 2019; 4) #OtsoDiretso; 5) #PHVote; 6) #VoteWisely; 7) #22Colmenares; 8) #36Gutoc; 9) #Harapan2019; and 10) #42Kabataan.Celebrities have also used their influence to encourage everyone to vote for the betterment of the country. Some of them were even seen doing on-the-ground campaign such as putting up posters themselves and joining rallies to endorse and show their support towards their senatorial bets.Filipinos enjoy their right to freedom of expression. This was reflected on Twitter on the day they exercised their right to suffrage.Stay tuned on Twitter to get the latest developments on the elections. You can also join the conversation by using #HalalanResults2019 and other relevant hashtags.