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The PCIJ Blog » Media groups launch ‘Roadshow vs. Impunity’
MEDIA GROUPS from all over the country have launched a series of activities to press the Philippine government to address the continuing problem of media murders and the slow grind of the wheels of justice in the country. The campaign, dubbed The Roadshow to End Impunity, includes the screening of specially-produced documentaries on media killings in several journalism schools in … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » PCIJ Media Killings Documentary on GMANewsTV, Nov 19 – Dec 17
STARTING this Saturday, Nov. 19, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), in partnership with GMANewsTV Channel 11, will broadcast a five–part documentary on media killings in the Philippines. This is PCIJ’s contribution to the global observance of the International Day to End Impunity on Nov, 23, the second anniversary of the Maguindanao Massacre that claimed 58 victims, including 32 … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » Newspaper exec shot dead
A MOTORCYCLE-riding gunman shot dead the circulation manager of the General Santos City newspaper Brigada News last November 11, adding yet another name to the growing list of victims of media murders in the country. The murder of Alfredo Velarde Jr. comes less than two weeks before journalists all over the world commemorate the 2nd anniversary of the November 23, … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » Stand up against media killings
ON NOVEMBER 23, 2011, media groups throughout the country and all over the world will mark the International Campaign to End Impunity with a wide-ranging public awareness campaign to press for stronger and firmer government action against media killings in the country. The campaign was timed with the 2nd anniversary of the November 23, 2009 Maguindanao Massacre, where 58 people … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » P-Noy’s huge legacy? 8M more babies to feed
BARRING any significant policy initiatives to curb the country’s population growth rate, President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III will bow out of Malacañang in 2016 with a hugely problematic legacy – 8 million Filipino babies born during his term, and as many more mouths to feed. That means, an average of 1.3 million babies born for every year that he … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » When Ignorance Isn’t Bliss
ARE WE there yet? After years of wrangling, legislators have yet to get anywhere with the reproductive health bill. That’s even after endless debates, forums, and discussions – among themselves and with members of the public. In fact, all that talk has managed to make a topic that would ordinarily attract most people boring: sex. That’s because if it’s not … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » Honoring Father Pops
video by Ferdinandh Cabrera AFTER Father Fausto Tentorio was felled by the bullets of an assassin last October 17, people came from miles around Central Mindanao to pay their respects to the man who travelled halfway around the world to serve the people of North Cotabato. Father Pops, as Tentorio was more commonly known among Cotabato folk, was an Italian … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » The truth, the banks, and the BIR
Please click here for the full–size version of the infographic. TRENDS in the volume of trading in any government bond are usually of interest only to money market investors and dealers who buy and sell the stuff in search of profits from price fluctuations. But not when it’s about the PEACe Bonds, the 10-year government debt that matured October 18 … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » Maguindanao: The Quest for Justice
MAGUINDANAO:The Quest for Justice is a documentary produced by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism on the second anniversary of the Maguindanao Massacre. After two years, the Ampatuans have allegedly ramped up efforts to reach a settlement with the families of the victims. The families of the victims continue to hold out against the proposed settlement, even as they try … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » Tax on PEACe bonds: Supreme Court TRO fails to restrain
Was it a case of much ado about nothing? At a press conference of its spokesman on Tuesday, the Supreme Court was said to have issued a temporary restraining order barring the Bureau of Treasury from withholding the 20 per cent final tax on interest gains on the P35-billion PEACe bonds due October 18. The high court instead ordered the … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » PCIJ stories bag top honors in Statistics Media Awards
by Karol Ilagan SEVERAL PCIJ stories on governance won recognition in this year’s National Statistics Month (NSM) Media Awards held at the Century Park Hotel, Manila on Monday, October 3, 2011. Malou Mangahas, PCIJ’s Executive Director, won the Outstanding Award for Print and Broadcast for “her contribution in promoting and communicating reports on GMA News TV’s Investigative Documentaries and various … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » PNoy still unhappy with FOI bills; ‘sounds good, but prone to abuse’
President Benigno S. Aquino III virtually shot down hopes for the immediate passage of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) on Thursday night, saying he was not ready to support any of the existing versions of the bill because of fears that the measure would be abused. In a report posted on the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s online portal Inquirer.net, the … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » Poverty and dynasties: The chicken or the egg?
by Ed Lingao DO DYNASTIES love poverty, or does poverty love dynasties? And with so much political and economic inequality in the Philippines, are dynasties the cause, or the effect? An ambitious study conducted by a policy think tank among members of the 15th Congress showed that legislators coming from political dynasties represent some of the poorest districts in the … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » The Irony of ‘Open’
by Malou Mangahas VERY soon, President Benigno S. ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III would be on his way home from New York where he delivered the keynote address at “The Power of Open: A Global Discussion,” of the US-initiated Open Government Partnership (OGP) network. In subsequent meetings in Washington, DC, Aquino touched base with World Bank executives who commended the Philippines “for … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » Int’l FOI advocates ask: Where’s PH’s FOI law?
AN INTERNATIONAL network of freedom of information (FOI) advocates has noted with concern the failure of President Benigno S. Aquino III to make a clear and firm stand on freedom of information legislation that remains pending before the Philippine Congress. Freedominfo.org, a web portal that links FOI advocates worldwide, also noted that the Philippine National Action Plan that President Aquino … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » Court clears arrest warrant for Esperat slay suspects
by The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility THE TRIAL of the alleged masterminds in the killing of journalist Marlene Esperat will resume as the 21st division of the Philippine Court of Appeals (CA) – Mindanao station denied their petition for certiorari and prohibition seeking the dismissal of the charges against them on 19 August 2011. One of the private … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » ‘Long on promises, short on political will’
The following is a statement by the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition on the Philippine Government’s refusal to prioritize the Freedom of Information Bill. The statement was issued just a few days before President Benigno S. Aquino III delivers the keynote address at the Open Government Partnership (OGP) forum in New York where he is expected to boast of … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » PCIJ joins SEAPA appeal for release of Burma VJ
The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) joins the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) it its appeal to the Burmese government to release a group of journalists who were imprisoned for merely doing their job of covering events in their country. Video journalist (VJ) Hla Hla Win of the web-based Burma news organization Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) was sentenced … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » Indonesian court jails radio station manager
The international media group Reporters Without Borders has condemned the six month prison sentence imposed by an Indonesian court on a radio station manager, calling the sentence “disproportionate” and “politically motivated.” In a letter to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, RSF Secretary-General Jean-Francois Julliard said the sentence imposed on Radio Era Baru manager Gatot Machali appeared to be the result … [Link]
The PCIJ Blog » Tales of the Amazonas
by Jessa Jarilla THEY risked life and limb and left their homes and families to become part of one of the most significant peasant movements in Philippine history. Yet not only have their contributions to that movement been often overlooked, they have also been blamed by some of its insiders as among the causes of its collapse. In a new … [Link]