Journalism Review Archives | Page 69 of 159

Prison outbreak: PCIJ report warns of risk of COVID-19 contagion in the jail system

CHEERS TO the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) for a report posted on April 10 warning of the imminent spread of COVID-19 in one of “the most crowded correctional systems in the world.” Overcrowding Arrests have spiked since the imposition of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon....

The importance of information in time of pandemic

CMFR CHEERS Cielito Habito for deftly detecting a failure in the government approach to fight COVID-19. From the start of the crisis, none of the public officials seemed inclined to harness the power of information technology to solve fundamental problems orenhance the effectiveness of its responses. His column in...

Lost in the news: The purposes of testing

IT IS not easy for reporters these days to try and make sense of the science of testing the new corona virus, with official sources taking on different, sometimes contradictory, views from one another. Nothing is so disheartening for an already anxious public than to be confronted with so...

LGUs in action: Cheers to the cities

THE REPORTS on the cities of Iloilo and Baguio provide a record of best practices of local governments outside the capital. Local government officials elsewhere, along with civic and business leaders, deserve to learn about more stories like this, if we are to survive the peril of COVID-19 and...

Amid the pandemic: News that remembers the forgotten

FOR ALMOST a month now, Filipinos in Luzon have been living the new norm of lockdown, restricted mobility, limited access to goods and services, and all social interaction pursued only on remote and digital platforms. Still cases of contamination have not let up along with the number of deaths....

From PCIJ: Big data and a key response to COVID-19

GOING BEYOND episodic news stories, PCIJ highlights a key response in fighting COVID-19. CMFR cheers the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) for a report posted on March 25 that collects crucial information from big data to stress the need to assist the poor of Metro Manila. The account...

The government’s emergency subsidy: Lacking substantive matters

PRESIDENT RODRIGO Duterte announced on March 30 the biggest aid package ever to be given by government to people in need. Mandated by law to report on that day, the president addressed the nation at 11 p.m – a seven hour delay from the scheduled time. He took about...

Questioning Duterte’s need for emergency powers

THE DISMAL performance of the national government in handling the COVID-19 pandemic has enraged ordinary citizens, who have been forced into a lockdown without concrete guarantees for their daily survival. The Palace’s request for Congress to grant President Duterte emergency powers made news on March 21. This caused concern...

The pandemic’s economic fallout

PRESIDENT RODRIGO Duterte on March 16 placed Luzon under “enhanced community quarantine,” which restricts the movement of roughly 60 million Filipinos. The quarantine mandated the temporary closure of non-essential shops as well as the suspension of public transport. For many, this meant the loss of jobs and livelihood. The...

A closer look at the weak link in the fight against COVID-19

THE CRISIS over the novel coronavirus has highlighted the weakness of the national health system in the country, an issue that urges concerned Filipinos to understand it within a framework of common reference. Recall that when discussions began last year, the proposed budget for the Department of Health (DOH)...