As part of the Forum for Democratic Cooperation, held in Taipei on May 26–28, 2026 as Forum 2000’s first conference in the Indo-Pacific, we continue A Life in Democracy, a series of conversations on persistence, political courage, and the future of open societies. In this edition, we speak with Regine Cabato, a Filipino journalist whose work focuses on politics, disinformation, press freedom, and democratic life in the Philippines.
Growing up in Mindanao and entering journalism at the beginning of Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency, Regine’s career has unfolded alongside democratic backsliding, attacks on press freedom, and the rapid expansion of disinformation. Despite recurring online harassment and pressure linked to her reporting, she remains committed to journalism as an essential part of the democratic project. In this conversation, she reflects on the hard-won tradition of press freedom in the Philippines, the new challenges posed by social media and information warfare, and the creativity of younger generations in adapting democratic resistance to new cultural and digital spaces. Above all, she sees resilience not as something innate, but as something built through community, solidarity, and the conviction that democracy—however messy—remains the best way to build a society in which different voices can be heard and a shared future can be shaped together.
