There was a time when news came from the top down. TV decided what mattered. Radio gave us our marching orders. Print framed the issues. And we swallowed it whole. True or twisted, the message was clean, controlled, and unquestioned.
During the impeachment of former President Joseph Estrada in 2001, it wasn’t Facebook or Twitter (X) that carried the people’s fury, it was text. Yes, SMS. Those simple 160-character messages lit a fire across the country. “Resign!” “Punta tayo sa EDSA!” The streets filled. EDSA Dos happened. That was people power, old-school but raw and real.
Then came the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012. Digital was there, yes, but still crawling. TV still ruled. Radio still influenced the provinces. Headlines were still kingmakers. Social media existed, but the old media still decided what mattered and when.
Fast forward to today. The game has changed – wildly.
Today, everyone holds the mic. Journalists, vloggers, trolls, keyboard warriors, paid influencers, bored students, political operators, even bots. News doesn’t break, it explodes. And truth? It often gets buried under the noise.
As the conversation heats up around the possible impeachment of Sara Duterte, don’t expect order. Don’t expect a solemn process guided by evidence and law. Expect chaos. Expect viral distractions. Expect outrage on loop.
One clever meme can drown a well-reasoned legal argument. A TikTok edited just right can frame someone guilty or innocent long before the Senate ever gets the gavel. In this climate, public opinion isn’t just swayed, it’s engineered.
We’ve gone from the solemnity of courtroom proceedings aired on national TV to TikTok threads analyzing smirks or zooming in on young women’s gyrating bodies, all for views and likes. From expert interviews to doctored clips shared by thousands in seconds. From editors vetting and validating facts to influencers chasing and generating clicks.
This isn’t just a shift. It’s a collision, between the ideals of democracy and the algorithms of chaos.
And while this new media landscape gives power to the people, it also gives power to the manipulators, the fabricators, and the loudest liars in the room.
Sara Duterte may survive politically. Or she may not. But one thing’s for sure: This impeachment, if it pushes through, will not be decided purely by evidence or constitutional clarity.
It will be fought – and possibly won or lost – in the glare of screens, in hashtags, in viral posts crafted for outrage, not truth.
We are no longer in the age of information. We are in the age of influence.
And the scariest part? No one’s really in control anymore.
