It was heartening to hear participants asking their questions, sending selfies and insights to the Rappler app, and thanking us for holding this forum
When the Rappler team landed in Cotabato City on Saturday, June 6, we had no idea that our crisis management skills were about to be tested.
Everything appeared to be going smoothly on the first two days. Venues, check. Presentations and learning materials, check. Hotel and transpo, check. Registrations for the public forum, check. Speakers, check. Movers coming from Marawi, Marantao, Sultan Kudarat, and Cotabato City made it to our first sessions on basic research and newswriting.
Then, on day three, Monday, June 7, as we were finishing up breakfast and preparing to head to our workshop venue at Notre Dame University (NDU), we felt the floor tilt.
At first, I thought I had simply lost my footing. But then Ailla Dela Cruz, one of our researchers and fact-checkers, pointed to the hangers in our closet. They were moving. Electric posts outside were shaking. The glass in our windows was shuddering. (LIVE UPDATES: Magnitude 7.8 Mindanao earthquake)
