ABS-CBN’s pioneering citizen journalism movement “Bayan Mo, iPatrol Mo” (BMPM) recently marked ten years of empowering Filipinos to become agents of change with the launch of “BIKE@10,” a fundraising bicycle event to raise funds for “Tahanang Walang Hagdanan” was held last Monday (August 28), 4 am at the Quezon City Memorial Circle with more than 400 participants. 

ABS-CBN Integrated News head Ging Reyes and BMPM and News Public Service head Rowena Paraan led a covenant signing with partner schools and organizations for this project last August 8, where they also announced that BMPM already has 1 million “Bayan Patrollers” on Facebook. This brings the total of Bayan Patrollers to 1.9 million.
“BMPM was born in 2007 and initially it was designed to be a movement to guard the vote. The spirit of vigilance and our commitment to citizen journalism continues to this day and it is one advocacy that we will continue to pursue and promote. From that movement of a few of thousands, I am very proud to share with you that BMPM has grown to over 1.9 million citizen journalists,” Reyes said.
She added that apart from growing in number, the movement has also evolved from promoting vigilance during elections and accountability of public officials to becoming a very effective citizen journalism arm of ABS-CBN’s newsgathering operations. Moreover, as they celebrate 10 years of BMPM, they are once again innovating BMPM to serve the Filipino people better.
“We want BMPM to evolve as a major public service arm of ABS-CBN and become a major force in promoting media and information literacy all over the Philippines,” she said, noting the citizen journalism workshops continuously being done by BMPM all over the country and on-ground events such as the upcoming “Bike@10” ride.
“We want it to make an impact and at the same time we want to make it an opportunity to give back to our Kapamilyas who are very deserving. This is just the start of many more events to come that are meant to enlighten our citizenry and geared towards involving them in nation-building,” she said.

“Bike@10” is a 10km ride for a cause that will begin at Liwasang Aurora, Quezon Memorial Circle. Participants, who are each required to donate at least 10 plastic (PET) bottles, include students and faculty from Miriam College, St. Paul University-Quezon City, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and STI College, ABS-CBN employees, and members of Rotary International District 3810.
Sales from the bottles collected will be used to buy a motorcycle with a sidecar for use of residents in Tahanang Walang Hagdan, a non-profit organization that aims to uplift the lives of the orthopedically handicapped persons.
BMPM pioneered citizen journalism in the country a decade ago as “Boto Mo iPatrol Mo” and called on Filipinos to use their cellphones to report on election-related anomalies. Eventually, it became a year-round vehicle for change as it encouraged people to share information, photos, and videos of events or issues that affect their communities and the nation as a whole. These reports are then verified and endorsed to the concerned government agencies while some are reported on ABS-CBN News platforms.
“Bayan Mo, iPatrol Mo” reached ten years not because of us, but because of our citizen journalists who even in the middle of a typhoon would take photos to give people a clear picture of what is happening,” Paraan said as she paid tribute to the courage and commitment of Bayan Patrollers through the years.
She was also proud to share how the compassion of Bayan Patrollers for their fellowmen have inspired them to steer BMPM towards more public service projects.
“We were in a recent meeting with Patrollers in Mindoro and I told the participants about the plight of evacuees from Marawi. I felt joy in my heart because the first thing the students asked was how they can help,” she said.
For more information and updates on BMPM and “BIKE@10” follow tweet @bayanmo or follow @bayanmoipatrolmo on Facebook.