NEW YORK CITY — Former Vice President Leni Robredo on Friday (Philippine time) joined a democracy forum hosted by the foundation of former US President Barack Obama.

"Honored to be part of the Obama Foundation Democracy Forum today," Robredo said in a Facebook post.

"Strengthening our democracies is difficult but crucial work, as challenges evolve with the times. I find hope in today’s discussions and the collective commitment to make our spaces more inclusive and attuned to how we can help each other thrive," she added.

In the forum, Robredo said that disinformation in the Philippines had already evolved to the point where "two different, almost incompatible" information ecosystems were formed.

As a result, these ecosystems effectively "destroyed common baseline of facts which is very essential for discourse for discussions for accountability."

Recounting her 2022 presidential campaign, Robredo noted that her "Tao Sa Tao, Puso Sa Puso" campaign "made breakthroughs" in fighting disinformation, although the strategy had already been carried out "late in the game."

"It was encouraging our supporters to go out of social media try to talk to as many people who do not share your values do not share your beliefs," she said.

The former Vice President also said that more research has to be done to unmask disinformation operations in the Philippines.

Aside from Robredo, other international pro-democracy figures headlined the forum: Glitch CEO Anil Dash, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, and Zeynep Tufekci, director of the Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security.

Renee DiResta of the Stanford Internet Observatory served as the forum's moderator.

For its part, the Obama Foundation said it hopes the inaugural edition of the forum will serve as a platform to share ideas vital to "keep democracies alive."

"These democratic ideas are currently under assault around the world... We see it in the backsliding that's taking place in what were well-established democracies. We see it in the escalating polarization and disinformation that's so evident in recent elections whether it's in Brazil, the Philippines, Italy, Sweden, [and] right here in the United states," Obama said.

—with a report from Don Tagala, ABS-CBN News

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