UP sa Halalan 2023 builds on the success of election-related initiatives that the UP system implemented in the 2013 and 2016 Philippine local and national elections.
The project was originally under the Office of the Vice President for Public Affairs (OVPPA) of the University of the Philippines Diliman. In 2019, the Department of Political Science of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) took over the project with permission from the OVPAA with a grant from the Office of Extension Coordination (OEC), Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Development of UP Diliman. The current website was created by the Department in 2019. In 2022, UP sa Halalan 2022 was implemented by the Department through another OEC grant. This 2023, the Department was again successful in securing an OEC grant for UP sa Halalan. Thus, a decade since its inception, UP sa Halalan is still going strong.
This project aims to build and enhance the network of academics, researchers, and stakeholders from within and beyond the university by generating educational and informative audio-visual content using high-impact and unconventional modes in the face of online disinformation. To expand and deepen its reach, UP sa Halalan endeavors to build on the use of Filipino and other Philippine languages and provide a gender perspective on public interest issues. Doing so is imperative as women and sexual minorities are usually disadvantaged in accessing political positions and information. Moreover, through various events and fora, UP sa Halalan aims to provide spaces for critical thought and opportunities to elevate public discourse.
UP sa Halalan’s web portal houses content related to Philippine politics and elections that is accessible to media outlets, civil society groups, political parties, and the public. The current iteration of UP sa Halalan focuses on raising awareness of the 2023 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections and helping the Filipino people acknowledge their importance.