Commentary | Alyssa Kate Dela Cruz, Gossip as Accountability: The Case of r/ChikaPH’s Use of Gossip for Asking Accountability
Imagine this: You are an ordinary Filipino during the country’s habagat (Southwest Monsoon) season, bringing rains 24/7. Creeks and rivers start to overflow, flood waters start to rise on the street, and it slowly creeps into the floors of your home. To calm yourself down, you open Instagram and see a nepo baby (nepotism baby) influencer posting about their parties and luxury bags online. Turns out this nepo baby is also your mayor’s child. You could not help but wonder if a mayor’s salary could afford to buy all those luxury bags, or did you partly pay for that bag without you knowing?
This is the stark reality in the Philippines.
During President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos’s 2024 State of the Nation Address, he proudly announced that 185 billion pesos in flood-control projects were awarded to the Department of Public Works and Highways to ease flooding in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. However, this claim was challenged when those flood control projects seemed not to have worked, and in fact, may even have worsened the flooding situation in Metro Manila. This sparked a trend on TikTok of calling out nepo babies or family members of politicians who flaunt their luxury items while their constituents are drowning in floods. A previous commentary also published on the CAS Commentary Board discusses this in more depth.
But before this “nepo baby trend” on TikTok, users and lurkers of the online community or subreddit r/ChikaPH already started to nitpick on these actions of nepo babies or family members. They alluded to their wealth in connection with massive corruption practices in the Philippines. r/ChikaPH primarily is a 700,000-member gossip community, focusing on speculation and idle talk on celebrities, politicians, and other public figures. Under the subreddit, they also focus on politics tea, or gossip related to politicians and their family members.
For example, users of r/ChikaPH noticed the frequent travel of Maine Mendoza, a Filipino celebrity, and Congressman Arjo Atayde, the House Representative for Quezon City’s District 1. They started to speculate regarding the involvement of Congressman Atayde with the flood control projects due to their seemingly monthly outings because, as they argued, politicians do not get that many official leaves to travel outside the country for leisure. The users also began to probe the couple's luxury items, highlighting the code of ethics that politicians should live modestly. All these allegations suggest that the Congressman is involved in corruption. Later on, during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s hearing, the Discayas mentioned his name as one of those who received kickbacks or earned a commission from the flood-control projects. Congressman Atayde denied the allegations, stating in a Facebook post that he was never involved in the flood control scandal and vowed to clear his name. Mendoza also defended her husband on X (formerly Twitter), stating that the allegations were “unfair.”
Given the country’s history of lack of transparency, the common Filipino would seek their own proof of these politicians' possible involvement in corrupt practices. The users did not just speculate out of thin air; they posted resibo or receipts such as screenshots to prove their claims that this politician may be corrupt. Moreover, the country’s Marites culture, or gossip culture, is so widespread and strong that it is now being used to demand accountability from these politicians. By using a comfortable method of communication, they were able to raise awareness of the possible involvement of these politicians in the wake of the flood-control scandal. While there are concerns about creating an echo chamber through online gossip due to its highly relational nature, the extent to which this occurs varies by platform. Reddit is less likely to become an echo chamber than the likes of X because interactions are more content based than personal. Gossip is also shown to be negotiated, meaning it reflects an individual's meaning-making capabilities when they encounter a gossip thread online.
These pieces of gossip and speculation might seem small, but they reflect the accountability mechanism at work since accountability measures in the Philippines are also flawed. Among all countries in the world, the Philippines ranks among the lowest in press freedom, indicating that the state silences dissent. So, some would resort to casual, anonymous online talk to demand accountability for the state's scandals. It is safer, cheaper, and less bureaucratic to express dissent on social media than through the usual avenues, such as newspapers or the streets.
Additionally, these gossip threads also tend to shape the discourse on national memory. Through casual Instagram posts or stories as resibo, it is now being used as an image to show how unfair the system is in the Philippines. It highlights the contrast between the lives of the elite and those of ordinary Filipinos. These posts remind us of what is possible if we remain critical of what we see on social media, when it is situated within a larger, more political conversation.
I invite scholars to probe further the use of gossip as a public accountability measure, adding nuance to the topic of gossip as political communication in the Global South. Gossip is seen as trivial and unreliable. Online activism is sometimes seen as something non-impactful. However, through the various calls for accountability on this topic, socio-civic groups organized a widespread protest called the Trillion Peso March, alluding to the trillions of pesos lost to corruption in these flood-control projects. There is no conclusive evidence to show that these gossip threads are the reason for these protests, given that the issue is multidimensional. The entire discourse truly sparked a widespread discussion about accountability for the money stolen from us. But it cannot be denied that these gossip threads are part of the active conversations that have shaped how the flood-control scandal is seen.
As of today, the country is still experiencing widespread floods, especially now that it is habagat season again. Every time the issue of flood control is brought up, the image of contrast between the lives of these corrupt politicians and the ordinary Filipino pops up. Users of r/ChikaPH are starting to bring up the conversation by sharing screenshots of nepo babies’ luxurious lives with the caption “Never forget.” Though scholars and other elites might view gossip as trivial talk, in a country that seems allergic to dissent, it might be one way to express a desire for accountability. In a country that experiences hunger and poverty, gossip might be the easiest way to reach them and let them understand that Filipinos deserve better than what we have right now. We can draw on the principles of gossip to spark conversation about important matters.
Alyssa Kate Dela Cruz is a third-year BA Communication Research student at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Her research interests include political communication, mental health communication, and science communication.
To cite this essay, please use the bibliographic entry suggested below:
Alyssa Kate Dela Cruz, “Gossip as Accountability: The Case of r/ChikaPH’s Use of Gossip for Asking Accountability,” criticalasianstudies.org Commentary Board, September 24, 2026; https://doi.org/10.52698/CLRR5697.