Expert says sense of history a factor on how millennials will vote

MANILA, Philippines — A political analyst said that sense of history factors in on how millennials would decide on who to vote for in the coming polls.

But young voters might have "a wrong understanding of history," Dindo Manhit, managing director of consultancy firm Stratbase, said.

When the 1986 People Power Revolution happened, 18- to 34-year old millennials voting in the May 9 polls were 4 years old and younger.

Of the 54.36 million registered voters, 45.5 percent belong to this age group. They grew up knowing the presidential terms of Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III.

"They are not made aware of the sins of the Marcos dictatorship, the massive corruption and even victims of human rights," Manhit said. 

"It seems our history books did not discuss these things... And their understanding of politics is different from those who went to EDSA," he added.

Even though millennials comprise nearly half the electorate, Manhit said there is no youth vote that is collective in nature. But young voters are on the look-out for candidates that appeal to their main concerns, which are economic issues such as job creation and better salary.

News a major influencer

Millennials are typically viewed as tech-savvy, but, according to Manhit, traditional media is still a major source of information to young Filipinos than social media, especially those belonging to poor households.

Data presented by Strategic Consumer and Media Incites, a media and consumer research agency, at the 2016 Media Outlook conference showed that TV has the broadest media reach among Filipino youth. 

It said that 94 percent of young Filipinos said they watched TV the previous day, while only 40 percent accessed the internet the past week.

Manhit said that views of young people on issues and candidates are shaped by the news they hear. But added that so far no news agency gave an in-depth discussion of martial law.