CMFR Staff, Author at CMFR

Media points to politics underlying INC’s ‘Peace’ Rally

THE IGLESIA ni Cristo (INC) staged a massive "National Rally for Peace" on January 13, 2025, mobilizing an estimated 1.5 million participants in the grounds in front of the... Read more

Ayuda: Pork barrel in new form

CHEERS TO TV5’s Frontline Pilipinas for its explainer that showed up financial assistance or “ayuda” as a new form of “pork barrel” – a practice that has been ruled... Read more

Sheila Villaflores Crisostomo, 54

SHEILA CRISOSTOMO, reporter for the daily newspaper, The Philippine Star, for more than three decades, died on January 15 at the East Avenue Medical Center two days after suffering... Read more

Taking lessons from COVID-19: Inquirer.net observes China’s “lack of transparency” on HMPV

CHEERS TO Inquirer.net for raising concerns about China’s “lack of transparency” about alleged cases of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) reported in in the country, recalling China’s lack of openness about... Read more

Lack of media attention on the “worst budget ever”

THE NATIONAL budget holds the key for effective government, an instrument that sets the priorities for development, for services and benefits for the people, including infrastructure projects for the... Read more

The challenge of climate change to government and media

THE GLOBAL scale of the climate crisis has subjected vulnerable countries to even greater strain. For three consecutive years, the World Risk Index 2024 identified the Philippines as the... Read more

WPS in 2024: Media must shift to report on WPS policy under Marcos Jr.

FOR SIX years, Rodrigo Duterte cozied up to Beijing, claiming economic gains for the country as his purpose. But his conduct and statements reflected the vassal of Beijing that... Read more

The POGO story as a political story

AMONG THE most prominent stories of the year, the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) showed up the weakness of the government's capacity to enforce the law and to... Read more

Bizarre, Brash, and Brazen: Media fixated on Dutertes

NEWS CONVENTIONS favored the out-of-ordinary, including colorful, even outrageous personalities. The Dutertes’ political success relied on a tried-and-true news brand that gets more attention for simply standing out. Unfortunately,... Read more

Looking back to move forward

CMFR has taken the short style, or the minimalist mode to fulfill this annual exercise, presenting brief reviews of four thematic concerns that were given the most prominence in... Read more