Journalism Review Archives | Page 104 of 161

Press on Impeachment: Helping the Public Understand

THE 1987 Philippine Constitution vests Congress with the power of impeachment to hold accountable certain officials of government. These include the president, vice president, the ombudsman, members of Constitutional Commissions and members of the Supreme Court. Barely over a year in office, the Duterte administration has seen its fair...

Squabble in the Senate

Screengrab from CNNPhilippines.com. Squabbling senators led the hearing into a sorry display of disorderly conduct, derailing the attention of the public as well as the media from relevant and salient points in the ongoing probe of a PHP6.4 billion drug shipment from China. These hearings demonstrated opposing positions of senators...

Understanding the Commission on Human Rights

Photo from the Commission on Human Rights official Facebook page ONE HUNDRED nineteen votes was what it took for the House of Representatives to downsize the budget of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to a piddling PHP1,000 for 2018. Congressmen, who acted on a motion by SAGIP Representative...

Flagging More Risks for Youth: DepEd’s Random Drug Tests

THE DEPARTMENT of Education (DepEd) released on August 8 DepEd Order No. 40, s. 2017 (DO 40, s.2017) which implements the policy of carrying out random drug tests in public and private secondary schools nationwide. Section V of the order says that tests aims to “determine the prevalence of...

Capitalizing on A Victim’s Grief: GMA-7’s Insensitive Interview

AMID GOVERNMENT claims that it is now safer on the streets, the spate of killings in the war on drugs continues, with more children and minors added to the list of casualties. Happening within two days of each other, the killings of 17 year-old Kian delos Santos...

Still Most Shabulized? TV5’s Aksyon Checks Duterte’s Iloilo Drug Figures

“YOU ASKED for the assignment sa Leyte. Namatay ang mayor doon. You asked for another assignment sa Ozamiz, namatay ang mayor doon, si Parojinog. Ngayon, gusto mo sa Iloilo, kasi si Mabilog has been identified as a protector-mayor. Mabuhay kaya siya?” The president’s question to Chief Inspector Jovie...

Fact-checking a Flip-flopping President

THE PRESIDENT’S words become public policy. So when President Duterte says something, media must be quick to examine the impact of his pronouncements. CMFR cheers VERA Files for its efforts in fact-checking Duterte’s statements, pointing out the inconsistency of the positions he has taken on the government’s bloody...

Navigating The Gridlock: The Grab, Uber Mess and Commuter Experience

THE OPERATION in the Philippines in recent years of transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Grab and Uber offered the commuting public a new and welcome option, but it has not been without controversy. Issues of compliance with local regulations had plagued both Grab and Uber. Shortly after...

Reporting the ASEAN Joint Communique: The Radical Shift in PH Foreign Policy

Better late than never. This seems to have been the case with the joint communiqué of the 50th Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial Meeting held in Manila. The statement was expected to be released on Saturday, August 5, but was not issued until Sunday evening....

Assessing the Government’s ‘Complaint Hotline’

“8888 CITIZENS’ Complaint Hotline,” created by Executive Order No. 6, was launched in August 2016 and institutionalized two months later. It was to be the public’s dedicated line for complaints and grievances about red tape and corruption in government offices. It was a laudable initiative that aimed to...