In Context Archives | Page 12 of 12

The Executive Order on FOI: A Freedom of Exceptions?

TWENTY-NINE (29) years since the first Freedom of Information (FOI) bill was filed, the transparency measure still has not made it to law. Not surprisingly, President Rodrigo Duterte’s executive order (EO) mandating access to information held by agencies in the executive branch was hailed by government officials, by...

Knowing Your Source: Think Before You Click

THINK BEFORE you click. You may be sharing propaganda as truth—and thus, helping to dumb down people who access the Internet and social media. The Internet, as a wide and open platform, provides space for a vast number of websites of dubious reliability, which are nevertheless, widely quoted and...

Duterte’s Hitler Comparison: The President’s Outrageous Mistake

ANOTHER DAY, another outrageous statement—and yet another frantic attempt at damage control. On Sept. 30, President Rodrigo Duterte gained worldwide notoriety anew when he compared himself to Adolf Hitler in his willingness to “slaughter” three million drug addicts. At least, this was how many understood the president’s statements....

Reporting ‘Endo’: Complicated, Confusing

AS PRESIDENTIAL candidate, Rodrigo Duterte vowed to end labor contractualization or “endo,” a practice that prevents workers from attaining the full benefits of regular employment. Duterte’s promise, together with his vow to end crime and drugs, projected his populist stance, helping him win the presidency in the May...

Duterte’s Drug War: Debunking Presumption of Regularity

THE NUMBER of deaths in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs rises by the day, raising concerns and eliciting criticism not only from some Filipinos but also from lawmakers and human rights advocates both here and abroad. Duterte and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela...

State of Lawless Violence: Media’s Watchdog Role Crucial

MEDIA’S RESPONSIBILITY to provide information and to explain what’s going on has become even more crucial in the context of the recent actions of the Duterte administration that may have an impact on civil liberties. Shortly before 5 a.m. of Sept. 3, President Rodrigo Duterte told a group...

Lowering the Age of Criminal Liability: What to Be Considered?

AMONG THE first bills filed in the House of Representatives of the 17th Congress was House Bill No. 002 of Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez and Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro to lower the age of criminal liability from 15 to nine. The measure, according to Alvarez and...

Censorship by the Gun

First published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Talk of the Town on July 10, 2016 IN RESPONSE to a question raised during one of his press conferences in June about the killing of journalists, then President-elect Rodrigo Duterte echoed a recurring narrative in the public mind: the belief...

Public Service Broadcasting: Will It Work in the Philippines?

THE NEW administration has well demonstrated its political will in certain aspects of governance. The public continues to support its initiatives. This same determination is about to transform government media and communication agencies, according to the new Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. In an interview in ABS-CBN News Channel’s (ANC)...