“Biased or Not”: A Study on Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)

Facebook Articles on the 2016 Presidential Elections.

Samantha Marcellana, John Sean Clint A. Vergara1

Rowena Capulong-Reyes2

1Senior AB – Communication Students, Colegio de San Juan de Letran

2Faculty, Institute of Communication, Colegio de San Juan de Letran

Abstract

The Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has a great impact in every Catholic
Filipino, who hears and lives with the spiritual values they instill in our lives. The Church has a great
impact for Catholics in choosing a leader that was based on morality and dignity.

The study aims to determine the articles of the CBCP during the Presidential elections 2016, they
affect the voters in being biased or not to a particular Presidential candidate, and to focus on how they use
Facebook as their communication platform. Using Content Analysis that examined by Three coders who
were able to code the coding instruments and manifest the latent context of the CBCP articles posted on
Facebook, on in what way CBCP used Facebook as a communication platform to share their views and
disseminate information in influencing voters. Communication students today as it shape the role of social
media as an effective communication platform in future elections. Findings show that CBCP wasn’t able
to use Facebook as an effective means of a communication platform. The researchers recommend further
study.

Thus, the effect of Social Media, specifically, Facebook has a great effect the many. Using the
best practices of the other fields such as marketing in social media, CBCP, and future communication
practitioners can generate new ideas and improve the way in writing articles when posting on social
media platforms like Facebook.

Keywords: Catholic Bishop Conference of The Philippines (CBCP), Content analysis.

Presidential elections, impact, communication platform, biased.

Introduction

The growth and implementation of social media as a communication platform for developing and
maintaining social relationships have accompanied a new paradigm with many opportunities and
possibilities within using political system (Himelboim, et al. 2012).

The free and wide-ranging expressions of opinion are integral to the functioning of a public
sphere (Habermas, 1991). Hence, the worldwide, generally unregulated Web is an image of the current
1
free squeeze which takes into consideration different sentiments. The Internet offers potential for greater
exchange and deliberation, enabling people to be more interactive by creating new networks of
information

The Roman Catholic Church, with more than 1 billion individuals, is the largest community in the
world. In December 2012, Pope Benedict XVI launched a Twitter account using the name “Pontifex”
(Tubeze, 2011). In the three remaining months of his term, he gained 3 million followers, and Pope
Benedict was a dynamic client of Online net Communicating to Catholic devotees. Pope Benedict also
became the first Pope to create a Facebook page and YouTube channel. Pope Francis strengthened the use
of Social Media by proclaiming to the Catholic Church that calls texts, the internet, and social media
‘gifts of God’ (Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, 2016).

Some church leaders shield away from the web because it was initially perceived as addictive
and littered with pornography, gambling, and trash that may not be helpful in attaining eternal life
(Pontifical Council for Social Communications, 2002). This recognition, apparently, did not flourish.
Today, Asia overwhelms the world's greatest long range interpersonal communication markets. Also, as
indicated by informal retribution by netizens themselves, the Philippines still holds the title as the "Person
to person communication Capital of the World” (Harvey, 2014). True or not, this, however, will not water
down the fact that most Filipinos are into social media.

When utilizing these social media platforms like Facebook, and Twitter. There are both actual
and adverse consequences for the youth (Edelman, 2009). Social Media is a double-edged sword. It is in
our hands to use this platform wisely because according to (Mwila, 2015), there are positive and adverse
effects of social media on society. On the positive side, it can be used for business/ marketing, for
communication, for the sharing of each other’s expertise and unite people for the achievement of some
particular objective while the adverse effects are an addiction, exposure to violence and sex, and invasion
of privacy. That is why people are advised to think before they do whatever they have to do on social
media platforms.

It is how social media affects politics, with a new source for campaigning. A lot of political issues
have been brought up regarding the use of social media (Wihbey, 2015). It was said that the media is a
public space for groups and individuals to express their views; it is through the open exchange of
argument and counter-argument that truth eventually (Skoric, 2015).

The discoveries of the study will contribute fundamentally to communication students today as it
shapes the role of social media as an effective communication platform in future elections. As the times
continue to push forward to the technological age, social media is rampantly used as the generation today
(Habermas, 2011). Thus, communication students must strategize or improve their strategy on how to
take advantage, control or create leverage on social media for politics and other fields. Thus, an in-depth
study of social media is needed as it might uncover critical areas for researching and new theories may be
arrived at.

2
Theoretical Background

Theoretical Framework

The powerful force of social media, especially Facebook through disseminating information grew
in the past century. Agenda-Setting Theory states that in choosing and displaying news, the media itself
plays an important part in shaping political reality (McCombs & Shaw 1972), especially emphasizing in
the current situation of the 2016 Presidential elections. The researchers focus on the scope and power of
social media about Presidential Elections 2016. The ability of this theory is to articulate in the agenda-
setting theory, proposes that customers of media news realize what is essential by the measure of data
given in a news story, and also its position about other stories.

Agenda Setting is vigorous and across the board impact of mass correspondence, an impact that
outcomes from specific content in mass media (McCombs 2004). The theory states that in choosing and
displaying news, the media itself plays an important part in shaping political reality (McCombs & Shaw
1972). Uncovering the critical areas of improvement of social media to enhance the strategy of taking
advantage of social media as a communication platform in future elections, also citing the limitations of
social media compared to other media.

Literature Review

Use of Facebook on Catholic Evangelization

The Church has been a great instrument in promoting morality throughout the ages. Pope Francis,
the current head of the Catholic Church, started the year of mercy on 2016. Part of the advocacy of the
year of forgiveness is to promote fairness, justice, and morality (Pertierra, 2012). That is why the Catholic
Church has been actively participating in promoting morality in Politics

The Pope once said that Asia is the hope of the Church (Beers, 2010). In line with this, the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) executed the message of the church by actively
promoting it through Social media and Facebook. Most of the people know social media from its different
tools and communities. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram are the most famous. These social
media has been most influential in distributing information.

“The Media Office of the Catholic Priests' Meeting of the Philippines has been locally
trailblazing the way of the online networking for a few years now. One of its brainchildren is Youth
Pinoy, an association of young Filipino Catholics who get a kick out of the chance to see themselves as
OMG or "online preachers of God" by exclusively utilizing web-based social networking as a part of their
work of proselytizing and political backing. They are known, as well, to organize the yearly Catholic
Web-based social networking Summit which, last November, was graced by the secretary of the
Ecclesiastical Gathering for Social Correspondences" Msgr. Paul Tighe. –

The Internet provides an effective technological means of realizing what the church’s document
on Ethics in Communications (Pontifical Council for Social Communications, 2002) portrayed as a two-
3
way stream of data and perspectives in the middle of ministers. This steam leads to the flexibility of
expression that is delicate to the prosperity of the group and to the role of the Magisterium that cultivates
it.

Primary Source of News Six in ten respondents (61 percent) indicates that television is their main
source for news. One in five (20 percent) shows their essential source is the web. More than one in ten (12
percent) fundamentally depend on print distributions, trailed by 4 percent inclining toward radio and 3
percent "informal”(Gray et. al, 2012).

Bias, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary is an inclination of temperament or

outlook; especially: a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment: prejudice. With this definition
( O’connor 2015) Indicated that there are ways to spot bias information on a web page, these are:
Outrageous dialect; explanations have won big or bust essences, the contention claims more to the
feelings than to rationale, things are worded with the aim to distort or in favor or against to generalize and
a limited view of the topic. For someone to spot a bias information, one must be aware that organizations,
businesses, and individuals represent their perspectives. On the off chance that associations or
organizations have a particular mission as the top priority, then they may distribute just data that backings
their perspective. (Feldman, 2008).

H1: The CBCP views are biased in the Presidential elections 2016

Use of Facebook on Political Campaign

Individuals sidestep customary media guardians to get data straightforwardly about political,
social and monetary life (Press and Williams, 2010). And also impart, associate and think online
straightforwardly with governments, parties, social developments and political pioneers.

There has been a study by Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project 2015
regarding the reasons why people go online, and they found out that people go online and they discovered
that 53% of youthful grown-ups ages 18 to 29 go online on any given day for no specific reason aside
from a redirection or only for no particular reason. Around 81% of individuals in this demographic said
they had done so at least occasionally (Murphy, 2011). In additional, according to (Hostway's
Corporation, 2016) the three reasons why people go online is to socialize, to learn and to have fun. These
reasons can be a foundation in using social media in future elections.

Online use of Social Media can surely capture the attention of voters especially the youth that is
more on using technology in an inexpensive way (Safko 2012). These new invention of Social Media or
New Media are cheaper to a traditional campaign strategy and the new instrument that changes the ground
of fighting to be similar in a traditional campaigning without affecting the traditional approach.

As World Wide Web grows, the different types of the old media are compelled to adjust into the
universe of the new media primarily, the internet, an imperative device of the new media, is changing the
way of communication dissemination. Mirandilla’s study has looked at the role of the new media in the
campaign strategies of major politicians. While their utilization of the new media is developing in

4
complexity, the impacts are not yet liable to be noteworthy. Political data and practice are still in light of
more conventional sources or substantive grounds.

The presence of young people online is global. In Taiwan, for instance, two groups have the
highest Internet usage. These are 12- to 15-years-old, which has 98% Internet usage, and 16- to 20-years-
old with 95.6% (Lin & Yu, 2008).

Since the Philippines got its autonomy in 1946, the nation embraced to a western style current
government, permitting the scope of Media. The new media positively encourages the free stream of
conclusions, and its belongings are gradually influencing the general population temperament. Facebook
and YouTube are currently routinely said as markers of popular opinion

Social Media in politics became a trend in 2008, during Barack Obama’s candidacy when he
utilized social media to communicate with his supporters at no cost and cheap ways in campaigning
(Fonbuena, 2013). Social Media was an effective way to reach voters during his time.

Another one is the use of social media in the Finnish parliamentary election of 2007 in Finland.
YouTube videos to played a major part in party campaigns for the 2007 parliamentary election. Carlson
and Strandberg in 2008, who have researched the use of social media in Finland, found that the effect
YouTube had on the election results and voting behavior was marginal. The most-watched election
campaign videos were the so-called “negative” clips, where some of the comments and speeches made by
the candidates were highlighted and mocked.

In taking advantage of new communication platforms during the 2008 Presidential election,
Barack Obama proved the benefit of using social media for political campaigns (Learmonth, 2009).Using
social media to persuade users is not what many had envisioned. 53% of young grown-ups ages 18 to 29
go online on any given day for no particular reason except a preoccupation or only for the sake of
entertainment. Around 81% of individuals in this demographic said they It has evolved beyond that
innocent beginning.

The content of Some areas is important to consider in proving that they can be involved in the
said process. They should be registered voters because it shows the willingness of the person to
participate in the election. Consequently, for a political message to be useful it, must break through the
clutter of messages competing for attention (Dale & Strauss, 2009).

to information more.

The part of the Internet in this uprising against race results as both surprising and unfavorable to
the following procedure (Morzov 2009). Regardless of the possibility that it was exclusive a US
publication that did not extol the part of Twitter in broadening the dissents after the Iranian race, Morozov
presents an alternate point of view on the utilization of Twitter as an essential tools for sorting out the
resistance, considering it to be just adding to the clamor, and utilizing what he calls an impossible task of
pressing vital substance into 140 characters.

5
 In the Philippines President Benigno Aquino III, who happened to have the third most liked the
Facebook page of any government official on the planet, and Obama possessed the most unusual position
in their particular nations and experts say that web-based social networking assumed a crucial part in their
victories (Russell, 2011). They used social media in the course of their campaign strategies in about the
audiences or supporters of candidates.

In a more recent event, Rodrigo Roa Duterte won the Philippines Presidential Elections 2016 with
the help of social media specifically Facebook. Duterte was not a web-based social networking virtuoso;
rather he had the most dedicated and web-based social networking adroit genuine adherents as his base.
(Sinpeng 2016)

A study by Kluver and Soon in 2007 about the Web and online political groups in Singapore
found that political gatherings and political expression bunches utilize hyperlinks to make and
manufacture organizations together with each other, framing similarly invested groups. Resulted in Social
Media users disseminate information and gain followers who form new communities that may be spurred
to take offline action

However, the use of social media in politics is something that entails a lot of careful studies.
Legislation related to the use of such new medium is still being ratified in most countries. Once social
media gains dominance over TV, it becomes an equalizer in political campaigns because social media will
have a greater influence over the voters (Fonbuena, 2013). If the shift goes to social media, it becomes
cheaper for candidates to run. More candidates will participate in the electoral process.

New media technology enables Singaporean political groups to circumvent individualcontrols to

propel their cause, which they will most likely be unable to satisfy in the disconnected world because of
stringent tenets and directions, bringing about "an unobtrusive type of digital activism" (Kluver& Soon,
2007). That is why the government has created regulatory bodies to watch over activities from people and
most importantly, politicians.

H2. The CBCP Facebook posts are ineffective in influencing voters in the Presidential elections
2016

Influence of Social Media

The power of the new media can be seen in its creation of new spaces for discourse and
coordinated action (Bennett, 2003). According to Boyd and Ellison that primarily to communicate with
others who are already part of their extended social networks. Instead of diminishing social connections,
individuals' Web utilize frequently supplements their current correspondences prompting new types of
social capital.

The developing importance of correspondence in online networking concludes a fundamental

change in frequent open communication, which has for the most part been solely started and oversaw by
government officials, columnist, and businessmen (Chadwick 2006). The growth of social media
especially Facebook and Twitter in political setting increased (Zeng et al. 2010). Social Media established
founding overall development and popularity which has prompted drawing in consideration from the
6
 variety of professionals globally. Despite the fact that with time all eras has come to grasp the
progressions informal organization has realized, youngsters and young grown-ups are the most loyal
clients of these destinations (Terrel, 2015). It concentrates on in the field of online informal organizations;
it has been uncovered that these destinations are affecting the lives of the teenagers incredibly.

Facebook was designed to support distinct college networks only. Facebook began in early 2004
as a Harvard-only social network (Cassidy, 2006). Facebook 72% of adult internet users62% Instead of
diminishing social connections, individuals' Web utilize frequently supplements their current
correspondences prompting new types of social capital.Also, 82% of online adults ages 18 to 29 use
Facebook, along with 79% of those ages 30 to 49, 64% of those ages 50 to 64 and 48% of those 65 and
older (Duggan, 2015)

Social Media tend to contact concerned individuals correctly. The unique capability of the social
media ought to have fortified subject's contribution by letting them take an interest in direct majority rules
system. In this way, online networking can address individuals' worries correctly (Piechota. 2011). From
multiple points of view, this self–selection of Internet destinations, online networking, and websites
expands the requirement for conventional media to be utilized to traverse to the undecided or the still
effective (Benette, 2003).

H3: There are critical improvements in the content of articles of CPCP items that can influence
voters in future election

Conceptual Framework:

CONTENT ANALYSIS

CBCP’s
post on Social Media as CBCP Agenda to Recommendations
their a communication influence to for Social
Facebook platform influence voters Communication
Page

H2 H1 H3

CODING INTRUMENTS

7
 The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) uses Facebook as one of their
communication platforms that provide news through the eyes of CBCP. Using the articles taken from
their Facebook page posts which are related to the Philippine Elections 2016, the researchers would know
whether CBCP had become bias through influencing voters to vote or not to vote a particular presidential
candidate for 2016. With this, the researchers will be able to come up with recommendations to help
further improve the use of social media as a communication platform. This conceptual framework is
derived from the Agenda Setting Theory. So, whenever CBCP news reflects the views of a particular
candidate during the presidential elections 2016 through social media, they are not just disseminating
news, they are also shaping and determining the issues of importance which is the same as Agenda
Setting theory that sets what to think about. This can ultimately set an agenda for a long political
campaign. Thus, the researchers will be conducting content analysis using coding instruments to analyze
and interpret the articles posted on their Facebook page, and the results of the data gathering will answer
the objectives and the central question of the study whether the said articles are biased or not.

Methods and Procedures

The researchers used Content Analysis that will examine the manifest the latent context of on a
text (Graneheim, et. al 2004) on how CBCP used Facebook as a communication platform to share their
views and disseminate information in influencing voters. The researchers applied description focused on
describing features of the message content (Jain et al. 2010). The coding process was used in analyzing
and interpreting the given data. Together with the researchers, we gathered qualified professionals who
have the credibility to accurately answer and understand the process of coding and analyzing articles
presented.

The research design for this study is Quantitative that established the rationale behind the articles
of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) of being biased or not for purposeful
analysis (Insch et al. 1997).

Also in this approach, we were able to analyze the scope of the power of social media as a
communication platform. We also identified strategies used by the CBCP on dissemination information
particularly on certain issues that pertain to the Presidential election using Facebook.

The coders were chosen to fall under on at least one (1) following criteria: Planning and Strategic
development and Social Media professional in Marketing. The researchers with Asst. Prof. Randy
Castillo, Director of Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Manila, and Asst. Prof. Jhennie Villar, Director of
Office of Alumni and Public Affairs coded the coding instruments.

The researchers reproduced three code books and code sheets, with the attached 14 articles from
February 9, to May 7, 2016, from CBCP’s Facebook and about Presidential elections 2016. The
participant’s answers were based on their assessments presented on the documented articles/post/news of
CBCP using textual analysis to understand strategies of the views of CBCP on Presidential election to
improve social media as a communication platform

8
 The code book was composed of three topics namely, platform, character, and public policy
determined to analyze in the articles of CBCP for a particular topic the writers. As to the Presidential
candidates, Grace Poe, Rodrigo Duterte, Miriam Santiago, Jejomar Binay and, Mar Roxas, to determined,
the treatment of positive and adverse outcome of biased.

1 Presidentiables’ dared: Out environmental platforms

2 Cardinal Tagle bars priests from saying Mass in campaigns
3 Pope Francis against the death penalty: Criminals too have the right to life
4 Faith leaders warn of ‘political instability’ after elections
5 Sovereignty resides in the people’
6 Priest backs DepEd order against politicians in graduation rites
7 What really matters when choosing a candidate?
8 Country needs leader ‘who can heal wounds’, says priest
9 Discerning For Whom to Vote in the National and Local Elections
10 The Church and Filipino politicians by Rev. Eutiquio B. Belizar, Jr., SThD
11 The Victims of the Davao Death Squad: Consolidated Report 1998-2015
12 Prophets of truth, servants of unity. Pastoral Appeal in the Spirit of Our for Love of God
13 Covenant signing for truth now happening at the Manila Cathedral. Presidentiables present: Binay
and Roxas.
14 WISE AS SERPENTS, INNOCENT AS DOVES

The researchers tested by getting coders to code the same set of material and then measuring
inter-rater reliability given by the following formula:

PA=A/n
where PA = percentage agreement, A = number of agreements and n = number of articles coded
Neuendorf (2002: 143). Also, the researchers used the Holsti’s method (1969) is a variation of percentage
agreement. The formula is:
Pao = 3A/ (N1+N2..)

where Pao represents the percentage of agreement between three coders, A is the number of three
coders’ consensus decisions and N1 and N2 are numbers of decisions coders have
made respectively.
Formatted: Left

Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
9
 Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left
Formatted: Left

Results

The result of the study aimed to determine whether the articles posted in the Facebook Page of
the Catholic Bishop Conferences of the Philippines (CBCP) are biased or not. The following are based on
the consolidated data of the code sheets used in the conduct of the study.

Table 1: Summary of Data collected from the Coders

Platform Character Public Binay Santiago Duterte Poe Roxas Positive Negativ
Policy e
Article 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 0
Article 2 0 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 1
Article 3 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 1 2
Article 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 1
Article 5 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 1 2 1
Article 6 1 0 2 0 0 0 2 1 2 1
Article 7 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 0
Article 8 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 0
Article 9 0 2 1 0 0 0 3 0 2 1
Article 10 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 2
Article 11 0 1 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 3
Article 12 0 3 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 2
Article 13 2 1 0 3 0 0 0 3 3 0
Article 14 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 3 0

Further, detailed summary of specific results is defined in the succeeding tables presented below.

Table 2: Topics on the articles presented in CBCP’s Facebook page

10
 Based on the fourteen (14) articles presented, the highest percentage with coder 1 with 71% coder
2- 64% and coder 3- 57 in character, while public policy coder 1- 21%, coder 2- 14%, and coder 3- 29%
and Platform with coder 1- 7%, coder 2- 21% and coder 3- 14% showed that articles presented on
CBCP’s Facebook page pertain to the Presidential Candidates Character.

As stated at Table 1, coders perceived that articles 1,4,5,7,8,9,10,12, and 14 focused on the
character of the Presidential candidates. While, articles 2,5,6, and 11 tackles about the Public policy of the
candidates and, articles 3,13, and 14 mentions the platform.

The coders all agreed that Character was presented in the articles of CBCP articles on Facebook.
Reliability shows that Character has 0.89, while two other topics were lower than the standard reliability
with 0.67 on Public Policy and 0.50 on Platform. CBCP articles are biased when pertaining to the
character of a Presidential candidate. Based on the frequency of the articles presented, 10 out of 14
articles pertained to the Character of a specific Presidential Candidate.

As can be observed in the results, the majority of the coders perceive that the topics discussed in
the articles published by CBCP are about the biased with the character of the Presidential candidates. This
can be so because the focus of the Church's teachings is to be a moral compass and to point to and vouch
for leaders that reflect a "Christ-like" leadership. This is the agenda that the CBCP has been setting: to
project one good candidate more than the others (Benette, 2014).

Table 3: Presidential candidates presented in CBCP’s Facebook page

Presidential candidates presented in CBCP’s Facebook gathered about Presidential candidates

Binay was mentioned in articles 2 and 13 that shows that the articles are favorable with the candidacy of
Jejomar Binay. Mar Roxas on the other hand was mentioned in articles 4 and 5, where also resulted to a
favorable bias on the CBCP articles. Grace Poe with the majority of the articles that the coders analyzed
that she was mentioned, or the articles are they were able to read, these articles are 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.
Majority of these articles are highly favorable with Grace Poe’s candidacy. Lastly, Rodrigo Duterte was
mentioned in articles 3 and 11 which resulted for a negative bias, or the CBCP presented articles that they
are against his candidacy.

11
 With a 100% perfect reliability, Grace Poe and Miriam Defensor-Santiago was agreed upon the
coders, regarding the mentioned Presidential candidates on the articles presented to the coders and posted
by CBCP on the Facebook account. Followed by Rodrigo Duterte with 0.86 reliability. Coders have a
lower agreement and reliability in pertaining to Mar Roxas with 0.8, Jejomar Binay with 0.6 and, while
the coders all agreed that Miriam Defensor Santiago with a 100% reliability, that she not mentioned in
the articles of CBCP during the Presidential Elections 2016.

Among the 5 presidential candidates, CBCP articles are biased, that they are in favor to Grace
Poe that shows a compassionate kind of leader which is similar to values of the Catholic Church which is
the act of mercy with her platforms, Gobyernong may Puso and Poverty alleviation and an open,
accountable, compassionate, and competent governance, free of corruption, which operates under the rule
of law and upholds human rights (Poe, 2016).

Table 4: Treatment that describes of being Bias in a positive or negative

Being bias has two parts: bias in a positive way, biased in favor of the candidate, negative biased,
being based on the candidate. Results show that coder 1- 79%, coder 2- 79% and coder 3- 79% are
positive biased or in favor of the candidate, and coder 1- 21 coder 2- 21% and coder 3- 21% are negative
biased or against the candidate.

With 96% of reliability, the coders agree that CBCP posts a positive bias that shows of being in
favor of a certain Presidential candidate, while low percentage received by being against in a certain
candidate with a 75% agree rate.

For someone to spot a bias information, one must be aware that organizations, businesses, and
individuals represent their own viewpoints. If organizations or businesses have a particular mission in
mind, then they may publish only information that supports their point of view. (Feldman, 2008).

Three coders interpreted and analyzed the given articles of the CBCP on their Facebook page. As
to the Topic discussed by the articles, the coders perceived that emphasis of the majority of the articles
tackles the Character of the presidential candidates. Concerning the Candidate discussed by the articles,
majority of the articles are perceived to be biased in favor of Senator Poe. The treatment presented was in
a Positive Bias that explains the CBCP’s in favor to Grace Poe’s candidacy.

Discussions

Most the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines centers on the Character of the
Presidential candidate. It means the CBCP focuses on the morality, and compassion of the candidate. It
means the CBCP focuses on the morality, and compassion of the candidate. It is said that having
12
knowledge of what values are is necessary for decision-making of all types and in all contexts. In identity
formation, values determine what individuals are attracted to and affiliate with, or not (Livingstone,
2008).

In support with this, CBCP had released pastoral letters that show the mission of the Catholic
Church in the Philippines. As its first paragraph, which was taken from the bible, says “Go therefore and
make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end
of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20). To summarize it all up, the Catholic Church has always been and will
always be teaching morality to people and thus it is reflected through their most posted topic which is
about a president’s character.

Senator Grace Poe is perceived to be the lesser evil among the 5 presidential candidates.
According to gracepoe.ph, Grace Poe’s two pillars of governance, Gobyernong may Puso which aims to
be Open, accountable, compassionate, and competent governance, free of corruption, which operates
under the rule of law and upholds human rights and Walang Maiiwan which goal is to alleviate poverty
coupled with inclusive, sustainable, and resilient growth, may have matched the Catholic Church’s
viewpoint of the qualities a leader must possess.

The following types of articles will describe how the CBCP views presented. the types of articles
are as follows: News articles are news stories and focus only on the facts, feature presents factual
information; bit focuses on people’s interest, and an editorial is an article that contains the writer's
opinion. As to what Type of articles is being posted, coders perceived that most of the articles presented
by CBCP on their Facebook page are News. Having articles written in news, it can be said that CBCP
believes in wants to be perceived to be a neutral entity because in writing news there is a high need for
fairness and equality.

Any article is biased. When an individual writes or publishes a certain topic, they have the motive
or intention to influence or persuade the audiences on a certain issue. Articles can be censored and framed
making them bias. There are a lot of news out there available but only certain news where chosen to affect
us on what to think about, according to agenda-setting theory. Feature and editorial articles are biased
because it is opinionated. News articles may be factual but favoring such as the posts of CBCP as they
relate it to elections.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, the researchers with the help of our credible coders were able to determine the bias
and flaws present on CBCP’s Facebook posts in relation to the presidential election 2016 but
unfortunately, they weren’t able to use the social media platform, Facebook, efficiently and thus failed to
further their agenda which was also proven based on the data the researchers gathered and analyzed. The
researchers also able to find this out through the post-factum facts that they indeed failed to influence
when Rodrigo Duterte won the presidential elections 2016. That means there are a lot of critical
improvements of using social media that can influence voters in future elections. Thus, the following
were proven to be true: the CBCP views are biased in the Presidential elections 2016, the CBCP
Facebook posts are ineffective in influencing voters in the Presidential elections 2016 and that there are a
lot of critical improvements of using social media that can influence voters in future elections.

13
 Recommendations:
Thus, the researchers recommend to the CBCP to modernize the way of writing articles. As what
we observed, CBCP’s article was written like it was in a newspaper, lengthy and visually unattractive.
Using the best practices of the other fields such as writing your texts for skim readers, people who have
an attention span of 8 seconds, which was taken from (Ganguly 2015), an article giving tips for social
media marketing, in this way social media, CBCP, and future communication practitioners can generate
new ideas and improve the way in writing articles when posting on social media platforms like Facebook.
They could also look at Duterte’s team, who were biased on Duterte, on how they successfully influence
people in voting for Duterte on the presidential election 2016.

14
 “Biased or Not”: A Study on Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)
Facebook Articles on the 2016 Presidential Elections.

Samantha Marcellana, John Sean Clint A. Vergara1

Rowena Capulong-Reyes2

1Senior AB – Communication Students, Colegio de San Juan de Letran

2Faculty, Institute of Communication, Colegio de San Juan de Letran

CODING BOOK:
Instructions: The code book will serve as a guide as you answer the coding sheet provided. Attached are
issuances from The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Facebook page. Check the
space provided based on your reference and analysis at the following criteria: Topic, Presidential
Candidate, Type of article, Updates, and Treatment.

A. TOPIC
Every four years the voters of the Philippines will choose a President that will lead them to
progress. People choose based on these following criteria (Merill III, and Grofman 1999).
Does the article mention the following topics below?

1. Public Policy- describes a collection of laws, mandates, or regulations established by a

Politician or government (Thomas, 2011). Voters choosing a candidate that can perceive
policy issues and make it their basis for a platform(Alvarez, 1998)
2. Character- describes the candidate’s personal characteristic, showing their own experiences,
morality, leadership, compassion, and the competence of the candidate (Miller and Shanks,
1996).
3. Political Party- describes as an organization of political people who shares the same views,
and values (Britannica, 2016). A significant factor that explains political orientations and
behavior (Abramson and Rhobe, 2003)

B. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
The following names ran during the 2016 Presidential elections. Who were “mentioned” in the
article/s?

1. Binay, Jejomar- the 13th Vice-President of the Philippines and, was also the former Mayor of
the City of Makati and ran as the standard bearer of the political party UNA (United
Nationalist Alliance) (Philippines, 2015)
2. Defensor, Miriam- a third-term Senator of the Republic of the Philippines, worked as the
Legal officer of United Nations, Geneva Switzerland, ran as the standard bearer of PRP
(People’s Reform Party) (CNN Philippines, 2016)

15
 3. Duterte, Rodrigo- a long time Governor of Davao City, run as the standard bearer under
PDP-Laban (Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan) and the 16th President of the
Republic of the Philippines (success story, 2016)
4. Poe, Grace- daughter of action star Fernando Poe Jr. and Actress Susan Roses, elected as one
of the 12 Senators of the Philippines last 2013, and run as an Independent candidate for
Presidency (gracepoe.ph, 2016),
5. Roxas, Mar-former DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government) under the Aquino
administration, and also the grandson of the former President Manuel Roxas. Ran as the
standard bearer of the Liberal party (Senate.gov, 2016).

C. TYPE OF ARTICLE
The following types of articles will describe how the CBCP (Catholic Bishops Conference of the
Philippines) views presented. Taken from Journalism Principles and Practice, with News and
Feature Writing, the types of articles are as follows:

1. News – presents factual information about a situation, it is objective and has no opinion.
2. Feature- presents factual information; bit focuses on people’s interest.
3. Editorial-present factual information but highly opinionated usually stands on issues.

D. UPDATES
The following describes on how often the CBCP (Catholic Bishops Conference of the
Philippines) publish articles about Presidential elections 2016.

1. Daily post- publishes articles about Presidential elections 2016 every day.
2. Weekly post- publishes articles about Presidential elections 2016 once a week.
3. Monthly post- publishes articles about Presidential elections 2016 once a month.

E. TREATMENT
The articles posted on Facebook and r are:

1. Positive- biased in favor of the candidate

2. Negative-biased against the candidate

References:

16
Abramson, Paul R., John H. Aldrich, and David W. Rhode. 2003. Change and Continuity in the
2000 and 2002 Elections. Washington: CQ Press.

Agrawal D, Budak C, El Abbadi A (2011) Information diffusion in

social networks: observing and influencing societal interests. In:
Proceedings of VLDB’11

Auvinen,A. (2011). Social Media – The new power of political influence

Retrieved from http://www.martenscentre.eu/,

Ball-Rokeach, S.J., & DeFleur, M.L. (1976). A dependency model or mass-media effects.
Communication Research, 3, 3-21.

Baruah, D. T. (2012). Effectiveness of Social Media as a tool of communication

and its potential for technology enabled connections: Micro-level study. 1-3

Beers, C. L. (2010, May 5). The role of the church in modern politics
and social change. Retrieved February 1, 2016

Bennett, David W. Metaphors of Ministry: Biblical Images for Leaders and Followers. Eugene,
Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 2004.

Bennett, W. L. (2003) New media power: The internet and global activism. In N.
Couldry& J. Curran (Eds.) Contesting media power: Alternative media power
in a networked world (pp. 17-37). Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.

Boyd, D., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history and
scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13, 1. Retrieved
from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html

Bullas, J., (2011). 30 Terrific Twitter Facts and Figures. Jeffbullas.com, Web log post [online]
04 May. Available at: [Accessed 07 May 2011].

Carlson, T & Strandberg, K. (2007) Riding the Web 2.0 Wave: Candidates on
YouTube in the 2007 Finnish National Elections P.10

Cassidy, J. (2006, May 15). Me media: How hanging out on the Internet became big
business. The New Yorker, 82 (13), 50.

Dale, A. & Strauss, A. (2009). Don't forget to vote: text message reminders
as a mobilization tool. American Journal of Political Science, 53(4), 787-804.

17
 doi:10.1111/j.1540-5907.2009.00401

DeFleur, M. L. & Ball-Rokeach, S. (1989). Theories of mass communication (5th ed.).

White Plains, NY: Longman

Donohew, L., Palmgreen, P., & Rayburn, J. D. (1987). Social and psychological origins of media
use: A lifestyle analysis. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 31, 255-278.

Duggan, M. (2015, August 19). The Demographics of Social Media Users. Retrieved January
22, 2016, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/19/the-demographics-of-social-media-
users/

Duverger, M. (n.d.). Political party. Retrieved August 9, 2016, from

https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-party

Edelman Research. (2009). Obama and the power of media and technology.
The European Business Review May-June 2009, P 1

Facebook (2016) Facebook Official Statistics. http://www.facebook.

com/pres/info.php?statistics

Fonbuena, C.(2013, January 22).What Obama taught me.

Retrieve from: http://www.rappler.com/rappler-blogs/carmela-fonbuena/20114-
what-obama-taught-me.

Galvez, K. (2015). CBCP issues guidelines for voters in May

2016 national elections. Retrieved: February 1, 2016

Ganguly,I (2015) 6 Tips to Improve Your Facebook Posts. Retrieved

from http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/6-tips-to-improve-facebook-posts/

Gray, M., Ph.D., & Gautier, M., Ph.D. (2012, November). Catholic New Media Use in the United
States, 2012. Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate Georgetown University
Washington, D.C. Catholic New Media U, 6-8. Retrieved July 23, 2016, from
http://www.usccb.org/about/communications/upload/Catholic_New_Media_Use_in_United_State
s_2012.pdf

Graneheim, U. H. and Lundman, B. (2004). ‘Qualitative content analysis in nursing research:

Concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness’, Nurse education
today, 24(2), 105–112.

Habermas, J. (1991). The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere:

An Inquiry into a category of Bourgeois Society. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press,
1991. p. 175-177.
18
Harvey, K. (Ed.). (2014). Encyclopedia of Social Media and Politics.
Los Angeles, California: Sage Publication. Catholic Church and

Hausler, M. (2011). The Pirate Party - a freedom that we mean.

Retrieved: March 29, 2016

Hendricks, D. (2013). Complete History of Social Media: Then And Now

Retrieved: March 28, 2016

History Of Social Networking: How It All Began! (2016, April 1).

Retrieved July 23, 2016, from http://1stwebdesigner.com/
history-of-social-networking

Himelboim,I., Lariscy,R. W., TinkHam, S. F. and Sweetser, K. D. (2012), Social Media

and Online Political Communication: The Role of Interpersonal Informational Trust and
Openness. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. Vol 56, pp. 92-115.

Insch, G. S., Moore, J. E., and Murphy, L. D. (1997). ‘Content analysis in leadership research:
Examples, procedures, and suggestions for future use’, The Leadership Quarterly,
8(1), 1–25.

Jackson, N., & Lilleker, D. (2011). Microblogging, constituency service and

impression management: UK MPs and the use of Twitter. Journal of Legislative
Studies, 17(1),86-105. doi:10.1080/13572334.2011.545181

Jain, V., Roy, S., Daswani, A. and Sudha, M. (2010). ‘How celebrities are used in Indian
television commercials’, Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, 35(4), 45–52.

Kluver, R. & Soon, C. (2007). The Internet and Online Political Communication,
Asian Journal of Communication, Vol (17), pp.246-265

Learmont, M. (2009). Social media paves way to white house.

Advertising Age, 80(11), 16.

Lin, C., & Yu, S. (2008). Adolescent internet usage in Taiwan: Exploring gender
differences. Adolescence, 43(170), 317.

Miller, Warren E., and J. Merrill Shanks. 1996. The New American Voter. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.

Mirandilla, M. P. (2009) Cyber campaigning for 2010: The Use and Effectiveness
of Websites and Social Networking Sites as Campaign Platforms for 2010
Presidential Election in the Philippines. A grant under the PhilICTResearch
Network, with funding support from the International Development Research
19
Neuendorf, K. A. (2002). The content analysis guidebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting. Retrieved April 8, 2016

Pertierra, R. (2012) Religion, Politics & Rationality in a Philippine Municipality,

Ateneo de Manila University Press, Quezon City.

Philippines, C., Staff. (2015, November 26). Who is Jejomar Binay? Retrieved August 9, 2016,
from http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2015/08/12/who-is-jejomar-binay-una-2016-presidential-
bet.html

Piechota, G. (2011). Media in election processes. Communication Today, 2, 44-5.

Pontifical Council for Social Communications. (2002a). Ethics in communication.

This document identifies three areas of ethical concern: what is the message content
of media, how communicating is done, and who will and will not have access to
information by way of the media.

Press, A. & Williams, B. (2010). The New Media Environment:

Wiley-Blackwell Inc, pp. 106-108

Russell, J. (2011, May 15). Philippines named social networking capital of the world. Retrieved from
Asian Correspondent: https://asiancorrespondent.com/2011/05/philippines-named-the-social-
networking-capital-of-the-world-indonesia-malaysia-amongst-top-10/

Safko, L. (2012). The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for
Business Success. Hookeben, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.

Saludo, R. (2015). How the Church can help the upright get elected.
Retrieved from http://www.manilatimes.net/how-the-church-can-help-
get-elected/190359/https://twitter.com/PPCRV

Sinpeng,A.(2016)HowDutertwontheelectiononFacebook.Retrievedfromhttp://www.newmandala.org/how-
duterte-won-the-election-on-facebook/

Skoric, M. M. (2014). CeDEM Asia 2014: Conference for E-Democracy and Open Government.
Hongkong S.A.R., China: Donau-Universitat Krems.

Smith, F. L. (1985) Perspectives on Radio and Television: Telecommunication in the United States.
New York: Harper & Row.

Terrel, K. (2015). History of Social Media, http://historycooperative.org

20
 the-history-of-social-media/. Retrived: February 1, 2016

Tubeze, P. (2011, July 9). Another CBCP body takes over probe of bishops in PCSO
Mess. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, pp. 3

Whetmore, E. J. (1987) Mediamerica: Form, Content, and Consequence of Mass Communication,

3rd edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Wihbey, J. (2015). How do social media use influence political participation and civic engagement?
A meta-analysis. Retrieved April 3, 2016, from http://journalistsresource.org/studies/politics/digital-
democracy/social-media-influence-politics-participation-engagement-meta-analysis

Zeng D, Chen H, Lusch R, Li S (2010) Social media analytics and

intelligence. IEEE Intell Syst 25(6):13–16

21