Journalism Review Archives | Page 108 of 159

Looking Into Land Conversation

PHILIPPINE POPULATION growth which has not abated urges a policy discussion about land use. People occupy space, with a measure of quantity for quality of life. Unfortunately, this has not been a hot-button topic and the media have mostly kept it on the back burners waiting for attention. A...

Senator in Peril: Covering Leila De Lima’s Arrest

POLITICS IS dirty. But nothing in the past could rival the tawdriness and cruelty of the campaign to bring down Senator Leila de Lima, driven by key members of the Duterte administration and the majority coalition in the two houses of Congress, including her colleagues in the Liberal Party...

Missing Information and Justice Stalled: What is Known About the Davao Death Squad

EVEN WITH the testimonies of Retired SPO3 Arturo Lascanas and Edgar Matobato, many feel that there is not enough evidence to prove that there were death squads operating in Davao City. The public has obviously taken the lead of the Senate where most of the members have tended to...

On Local Fishermen and China’s Aquaculture Technology

THE INQUIRER’s report “Zambales fishers won’t take Chinese bait,” gave readers an interesting view of one bilateral exchange between counterparts in China and the Philippines. President Rodrigo Duterte’s so-called China pivot was widely covered by the media, mostly in anticipation of expanded commerce and economic investments to be made...

Killers Still At Large: The Myth of Law and Order

DEVELOPMENTS IN President Duterte’s war on drugs have raised issues which have been largely ignored by the administration and consequently, hardly touched in the news. The scandal which exposed the involvement of ranking police officers of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG) in the kidnap-slay case of Korean businessman...

Mining Crackdown: Digging for Context in a Minefield of Issues

IT WAS not exactly a loving message on February 14; at least, not for the mining industry, especially the workers threatened with the loss of livelihood. When Secretary Regina “Gina” Lopez of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) ordered the sudden closure of 23 mines and...

Napoles Trial: Examining the SolGen’s Move to Acquit Napoles

THE INFAMOUS Janet Lim Napoles is back in the news, courtesy of government’s principal lawyer, Solicitor General Jose Calida. Napoles is the central figure in the P10-billion pork barrel scam in 2013. The corruption scandal implicated prominent politicians who were arrested and detained on charges of plunder, a...

Reporting the Surigao Quake: Coping with the Aftermath, Preparing for the “Big One”

IN THE Philippines, tremors happen almost every day; many occurring without notice except by the agencies and experts involved. According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) the country experienced 467 “seismic events” in first two months of 2017 before the 6.7 magnitude earthquake hit Surigao...

Erring Cops in Malacañang: Miscommunication Between Commander-in-Chief and PNP

JEERS TO the media for failing to point out the seeming disconnect between President Rodrigo Duterte and the Philippine National Police (PNP) authorities on the erring cops who were presented to the president in Malacañang. The kidnap-murder of the Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo in October 2016 –...

Behind the Scenes: Korean Mafia in the Philippines?

THE KIDNAP and killing of Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo unmasked the corruption and criminality within the ranks of the Philippine National Police (PNP), prompting President Duterte to dissolve the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG) and to halt drug-related operations of the police, which are now assigned to...