Melinda Quintos de Jesus Archives

We will not surrender our freedoms

Today, Independence Day, we renew our pledge to serve the people, to continue speaking truth to power, and to guard and defend freedom of the press and of expression from all threats.

Covering the Pandemic

Covering the CoViD-19 Pandemic

The Silent Media

Native Advertising: Not just a Problem of One

A failure to celebrate

IT WAS not just the cloudy morning and last night’s rain which left our small flag hanging limp at the gate. As with so many things during the pandemic, Independence Day stole up on us and we failed to rouse ourselves to check out the practiced motions of patriotic...

Cringe Cringe Mr. President

I cringe every time I hear the president say, “my country” or “my people” when speaking to us and not to a foreign audience. Almost six months in office, the president with his autocratic ways, may be feeling as though, having been elected president, he has acquired us...

Why Only in Albay?
Church Bells Toll Against Killings

Every 9 p.m. in Albay (PDI), church bells toll to call the faithful to collective prayer for an end to drug killings. In a letter read in all the 45 churches in the province, Bishop Joel Z. Baylon, explained the practice as a response to the violence, specifically...

Is it New? Is it Independent?

By Melinda Quintos de Jesus I KNOW I had written about the importance of words, especially in governance. But maybe we are making too much of President Duterte’s words. Maybe we should not take any of it too seriously, these emotional outbursts, even about grave matters, especially when dealing...

War Over Words: Interpreting Mr. Duterte

By Melinda Quintos de Jesus THE BROUHAHA over President Rodrigo Duterte’s reference to Hitler’s Holocaust is not the first in his relatively brief career as a national politician. Perhaps, we can say that his career stands out for number of times his loose tongue has caused furious controversy. We do...

Jokowi Bests Duterte: A Most Critical Period for Media in Southeast Asia

By Melinda Quintos de Jesus It cannot be helped. Our regional engagement is enhanced by the quality of our leaders. In the past decades, I have met with our counterparts in the field of media development, and our exchange reflects the pride of having elected a good president —...

Duterte’s War on Drugs: Learning from the Failure of Thailand and Colombia

By Melinda de Jesus President Rodrigo Duterte is not the first to take to the path of violence with the goal of ending the plague of drugs. Thailand’s highly controversial and equally popular Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who rose to power in 2001 also thought he could fight fire...

What Now with this FOI-EO?

NOT TO rain on anyone’s parade and, clearly, with no intention to bash initiatives to support freedom of information in government – the media and advocates would be remiss if we did not review the executive order and determine what response it requires of us. So far, it has...

Pre-Election Angst

CMFR HAS monitored election coverage since 1992, publishing reports in 1995, 2001, 2007 and 2010. Deeply troubling issues in 2016 compelled a close monitoring of media coverage. First, Jejomar Binay seemed an unstoppable force in 2015 as he projected his run despite 11 Senate hearings (as of December 2014) on...

Update on Martial Law

MARTIAL LAW is now history. Why then an update, a term journalists usually use for reports that keep up with the latest developments in current events. Perhaps even history calls for assessment and reassessment, as American historian, Glenn May, describes in his book "A Past Updated". Unfortunately, while we...