CheckMatePH

A Political Fact-Checking & Civic Engagement Platform for Filipino Voters

SIKAPTala 2026 Hackathon
Team Debuggerinas · Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation – Lucena City

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Overview

CheckMatePH is a web-based political social platform designed to combat misinformation and encourage responsible civic engagement among Filipino citizens.

Every political post submitted to the platform undergoes AI-powered fact-checking before publication and may later be reviewed by accredited human experts for additional verification.

The platform provides voters — especially first-time voters and youth — with a trustworthy space to:

• discuss political issues
• verify public claims
• analyze politicians
• participate in civic discourse responsibly

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Key Features

Political Discussion Feed

A structured civic discussion feed featuring:

• threaded comments
• upvotes
• categorized political topics
• community engagement tools

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Verified Politician Profiles

Dedicated politician pages containing:

• integrity scores
• public claim history
• promise vs. action tracker
• fact-check summaries

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Real-Time Debate Rooms

Interactive debate spaces powered by Supabase Realtime with:

• live discussions
• structured arguments
• real-time audience voting

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Role-Based Access Control

Different permission systems for:

• Regular Users
• Verified Experts
• Moderators
• Verified Politicians

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Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	Next.js + React + TypeScript
Styling	Tailwind CSS + shadcn/ui
Backend & Database	Supabase (PostgreSQL + Realtime)
Authentication	Supabase Auth + JWT + RLS
Deployment	Vercel

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

Make sure you have:

• Node.js 18+
• A Supabase project
• An OpenAI API key

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Installation

git clone https://github.com/jpmartirez/checkmateph.git

cd checkmateph

npm install

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Environment Variables

Create a .env.local file in the root directory:

NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=your_supabase_project_url
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=your_supabase_anon_key
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key

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Run Development Server

npm run dev

Open:

http://localhost:3000

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Project Structure

checkmateph/
├── app/              # Next.js App Router pages & layouts
├── components/       # Reusable UI components
├── lib/              # Utilities, API helpers, Supabase clients
├── types/            # TypeScript types & interfaces
├── public/           # Static assets
└── styles/           # Global styles

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Hackathon Scope & Limitations

• AI fact-checking is probabilistic and not a legal determination of truth
• Debate rooms are currently text-only
• OAuth login and advanced Tagalog NLP are post-hackathon features
• The platform is web-based only (mobile responsive)

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Vision

CheckMatePH aims to promote:

• media literacy
• informed voting
• civic participation
• responsible political discussion

through accessible and technology-driven fact verification.

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Team

Debuggerinas

Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation – Lucena City

Built for:

SIKAPTala 2026

National Computer Science & Information Technology Competition