“Nobody can deny that it's been quite a [chore] looking at our feeds, with everyone quarreling here and there. People believing everything they see online, in a heartbeat. But we also cannot deny that the Filipino spirit is alive more than ever,” she wrote on her Facebook account.
Gretchen also stressed that the social media “has helped us to question things, ridicule norms, analyze situations and forced us to put more thought into that ballot.”
The student athlete-turned-host also shared that during the whole campaign, she had broken down twice.
“The first time was when I came home from a long day's work only to hear the people around me discrediting the work that I do and the institution I work for…Sometimes, all that we come home with is our integrity and our pride knowing that we give the best we can in what we do.
“The second time was when our 48-hour election coverage ended,” she added.
Gretchen also said that she learned a lot during the campaign. She has been involved in politics by “staying in tune to the political warfare, reading newspapers, keeping up-to-date online and engaging in conversations with analysts, anchors, millennials and the common Filipino.”
In the end Gretchen wrote, “THE FILIPINO SPIRIT IS ALIVE, and we have won! Here's your ?#?BayanPatroller? Gretchen, signing off!”?
Read Gretchen’s full message here: