Postscript: Lessons from the campaign trail

To provide Filipinos with the latest news on issues surrounding the recently-concluded presidential campaign and up-to-date information about the campaign style and feedback, ABS-CBN tasked five of its finest news reporters to cover the presidential candidates.

Miranda de Quiroz and Tony Velasquez were assigned to trail President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Maricar Bautista followed the campaign of Fernando Poe Jr. Sen. Panfilo Lacson had Nadia Trinidad trailing his campaign, and Jay Ruiz came up with newsworthy stories everyday about the tedious campaign of presidentiable Raul Roco.

The line-up of reporters was a razor-sharp tactic to deliver one of the most efficient and credible news coverages on the style, challenges and success of each one’s crusade for the highest seat of governance. Each of the reporters faced a spectrum of ordeals. The physical component was very tedious, since the job required following the campaign hours of their candidates which would start at around 6 a.m. until the end of their late-night sorties.

De Quiroz shares, "It left us little time for ourselves and our families. But it’s all in the name of public service."

Another challenge was delivering a newsworthy story everyday. This required creativity to present each candidate’s routine from a different perspective so that on election day, viewers could make an intelligent, informed choice.

Following a presidential campaign trail is not something they do everyday. They had to adjust to more frequent traveling, working longer hours, still keeping up physically, and dealing with three men and one woman under a great strain and exhaustion.

"You always have to discern when a story being fed to you is true, newsworthy or just plain spin or propaganda," grants Trinidad.

Though few of them enjoy the job’s pressures, most still had to come up with strategies to work around the ordeal and find how they could be most effective. Reporters following Pres. Arroyo resorted to leapfrogging and proper coordination. But those who single-handedly trailed a presidentiable’s campaign had to stand up to its demands and bank on mental and physical preparation. Often, they would be relying on food and catnaps to supply them with the Herculean energy they needed to match that of each candidate’s.

"I had to contend with deadlines for the daily newscasts and made sure I would not be outscooped by the competition," explains Bautista.

The campaign proved to be a learning experience for the field reporters. They say familiarizing themselves with the country’s geography allowed them to meet people from different walks of life and hear their concerns firsthand. Bautista admits she learned to be enterprising and resourceful. Patience always paid off.

The project helped them gain more insight and discernment on judging what was truly newsworthy or just a spin. They fostered professional relationships with sources and ascertained how to get through but still maintain enough distance to maintain their objectivity.

Jay Ruiz says that by traveling, they get the chance to see extreme poverty and extreme success in different parts of the country. "You realize it is not the ordinary Filipino who failed in trying to uplift himself from poverty, but his leaders who most often succumb to unbelievable greed that makes the Filipino poor."

Though following a candidate up-close gave them a deep understanding of each one’s stance on national issues and platform, it limited their opportunity to know more about other presidentiables. Trailing a presidential hopeful taught many of them there should be a measure of intelligence and hardwork, integrity and vision for one to be gain the highest office of the land.

These five reporters are grateful ABS-CBN supported them as broadcasters of the network. ABS-CBN has constantly provided avenues for them to train and improve their craft. ABS-CBN took care of the technical aspect, logistics and financial concerns, still leaving room for any kind of editorial assistance each may have needed, Maricar Bautista says, "They were supportive of the stories we came up with, not showing an iota of doubt as to the veracity of our report." ABS-CBN believed in their full capability, training them never to settle for anything below their standard of quality.