You know , I didn’t vote for Noynoy. During the campaign, I received some flack from rabid and irrational Noynoy supporters. It then came as a pleasant surprise when my request for Blog Watch media accreditation was granted. When Blog Watch started in September 2009, we were unknown to politicians. Most of us are not even political bloggers. A staff of a presidential candidate wanted to check our motives — ‘Do you have political motivations?’ Getting the candidates to take us seriously was a challenge. Credibility needed to be established. The faith in bloggers started when Vibal Foundation hosted us in their Philippine Online Chronicles. We appreciate their efforts in helping us attain our goals. We’ve been tenacious in getting candidates to be interviewed and succeeded in getting seven out of the nine presidential candidates. Pretty soon, media outfits, presidential candidates and supporters started to follow us on Twitter or Facebook. The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) released a report, Online Coverage of 2010 Elections: Citizen journalists at work, which said: ‘Unprecedented in the country’s election history, bloggers and citizen journalists covering the 2010 elections were given media accreditation IDs by the Commission on Elections (Comelec)’. The accreditation affirms the work we have been doing for Blog Watch.
I am proud to be part of history as one of the first bloggers to officially cover the Inaugural from the Quirino Grandstand to Malacanang Palace.
Today is the first day of the new president. There will be no honeymoon period for me. My reasons for not voting him as my president still holds true today. But I love my country more. It is the choice of 40% of the people. It will not stop me from being vigilant. In fact, the new administration wants us to participate in good governance. The work of a president starts on day 1. I will be critical but fair . I will not rant without basis. I will acknowledge positive measures.
The mood was festive yesterday especially those dressed in yellow. I knew it would be a sea of yellow during the Inaugural so I decided to wear blue and purple as contrast. I did not really cover much of the Inaugural. I was busy interviewing the people and knowing their sentiments so I don’t have much photos of the day. Besides, the battery of the camera ran out on me. Let me share some of the awesome photos of Anton Sheker. He had to protect his turf and stay there for 7 hours. Kudos to Anton. (Please do not copy these photos. They are copyright to Blog Watch and Anton Sheker)
Click the thumbnails to enlarge
