Ethics 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

Dengue After Dengvaxia: Media Focused on the Politics of it

THE RAINY season is also dengue season in the Philippines. In 2017 alone, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 131,827 dengue cases nationwide, of which 732 were fatal. Life-threatening dengue is a serious concern for everyone. A person can be infected several times, as four strains of the disease...

Media Publicity on Names in PDEA Narco List: Unfair and Harmful

JEERS TO several media organizations for making public the names of barangay officials allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade as presented by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Monday, April 30. Such public exposure makes them vulnerable to all kinds of pressure, and worse, actual attacks....

Mamasapano Revisited: The Press Got Played

SENATE HEARINGS in aid of legislation are an important part of democracy. The very nature of these hearings – senators have subpoena and contempt powers and are immune from legal action – make them a potentially great venue for ferreting out the truth on issues of national import....

Examining the Mamasapano Impact on Peace

CHEERS TO the Philippine Daily Inquirer for running a two-part series examining the impact of the Mamasapano incident on peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The daily broadsheet ran the series during the week when the incident marked its first anniversary. On...

DNA Test: A Hoax, a Non-Story

JEERS TO the Manila Bulletin for a headline that misled the reader into thinking that the article was about an authentic document but, as the report itself said, was actually fake. In the lead of its report “’DNA test’ on Bongbong shows he’s related to Poe” published last...

SSS: Failure of Public Policy Reporting

CRITICISM RAINED on President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III for his veto of House Bill 5842 that sought to increase by PHP 2,000 the monthly Social Security System (SSS) pension. Given the current context – it’s election season and there are two million pensioners who are potential voters –...

Mamasapano, a Year Later

CHEERS TO ABS-CBN 2’s TV Patrol and CNN Philippines’ Network News for exploring developments and other issues in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, a year after the clash between the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and other armed groups on January 25, 2015. The...

Revisiting Arroyo’s Plunder Case

CHEERS TO Rappler.com for its efforts to revisit former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s plunder case, coinciding with the fifteenth anniversary of the protest action known as “EDSA Dos” or People Power II that ousted Joseph Estrada in 2001. Rappler posted “What has happened to the Arroyo plunder case?” on January...

RH Law Budget Cut: Ambushed and Out of the Loop

THE SLASHING last December of the Department of Health’s billion-peso budget for family planning commodities caught reproductive health advocates off-guard. DOH Secretary Janette Garin said she herself was unaware of the cut and only learned of it on January 4. She said the cut was made during the...

Traffic Congestion in Roads other than EDSA

CHEERS TO CNN Philippines’ Network News for moving traffic reporting from EDSA to other roads in the capital. While EDSA serves as the most extensive artery connecting five cities in Metro Manila, there are many other thoroughfares where commuters suffer the same plight or where traffic congestion has become...