Letran SHS Fourth Estate concludes last session of Sinag 3 with discussion on the Importance of Background Checking Candidates' Profiles and Platforms

John Paul Vidal

SATURDAY, April 2, 2022 - The last session of SINAG 3 tackled the importance of background checking a candidate’s profile and platforms to thoroughly gain information about the aspiring political leaders of the country.

The speaker, Mr. Chino Gaston, a member of the National Directorate of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, shared his expertise via Facebook Livestream. Mr. Chino Gaston is also one of the safety officers of GMA 7 Network, one of the five media safety trainers for the international news safety institute, and has been a journalist in television for over 20 years.

He started with a greeting and introduction and encouraged the students to keep up their determination to become journalists. He stated that students are the ones to carry the next generation, which is why it gives him hope to see students interested in journalism. Mr. Gaston also emphasized the current misinformation that is being circulated and how we, as journalists, are the ones who must investigate and put a spotlight on to prevent the spread of false information. He then began his talk by making a strong case for why we should do background checks on people interested.

Mr. Gaston added that the influence of the media and other social platforms in the current spread of different types of information is powerful, whether false or factual. People must also consider checking the actual achievements and deeds of the candidates and not blindly trusting their claims. As students and citizens of the Philippines, we must be vigilant and cautious in how we cast our votes. After that, he presented a poster about the Legacy of President Rodrigo Duterte, which contained over-claimed achievements and statistics in his legacy as president.

Mr. Gaston also mentioned the problems people ignore or dismiss as a joke. The lies of candidates in their campaigns, their sweet words to lure people into falling for their lies, and how people ignore or make jokes about them rather than taking these problems seriously. Mr. Gaston also taught us how to spot fake information on the claims or credentials of the candidate we are checking on. He summarized his discussion and ended his discussion with that.

After the discussion, a question and answer period was held where the participants could ask the speaker for any inquiries or clear up misunderstandings in the discussion. After that, Ms. Kiersten Olivas gave her key takeaways and closing remarks. It was then followed by the awarding of certificates given to Mr. Chino Gaston. He then gave his closing remarks to formally end SINAG 3: The Letran SHS Fourth Estate Journalism Conference.

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