Media Ethics and Responsibility

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

Huge drop in drug user numbers? OneNews.ph disputes DDB’s claim

EVEN WITH the COVID-19 crisis, the Duterte administration has continued to fix its attention on the “drug” problem, the object of his centerpiece policy campaign from the very start of his presidency four years ago. In taped briefings to address the country during the pandemic, the president has repeatedly...

Cayetano, Velasco, and Sara Duterte

SPEAKER ALAN Peter Cayetano (1st Dist., Taguig City) finally tendered his irrevocable resignation and conceded the fight for speakership after an election that gave Rep. Lord Allan Velasco the numbers. On October 12, 186 lawmakers gave their vote to Velasco, forcing Cayetano to vacate his post and end the...

Roque’s publicity stunt diverts media attention from tourism issues

THE EIGHT months of strict lockdowns severely affected the country’s tourism sector with an estimated PHP190 billion in lost revenues. The restart is being done in phases. Only two major tourist destinations, Baguio City and Boracay Island, reopened to visitors in October, but with stringent requirements, including negative results...

Cheers! Rappler takes a long hard look at misplaced priorities in 2021 budget

MEDIA HAVE faithfully followed the budget discussion in the HOR. But much of the reporting has been limited to accounts focused on the deliberations on the allocations for each agency, basically picking up quotes from concerned parties, failing to see the forest for the trees. In general, media have...

Is there more to the no-el trial balloon?

THE MEDIA did not quite know what to make of the suggestion. Comelec officials were at the House of Representatives on September 24 to brief lawmakers about its budget of PHP14.6 billion for 2021. But instead of asking them how they are working to make sure a new generation...

Inquirer calls out gaps in COVID response as cases reach 300K

THE PHILIPPINES breached the 300,000 mark in confirmed COVID-19 cases on September 26, a most unwelcome development for a country that has imposed the longest lockdown in the world. The government’s heavily militarized quarantines have done little to stem transmission, as thousands of cases are still recorded daily. The...

Reduced physical distancing: Another flawed policy from the IATF

THE PROPOSAL to gradually reduce physical distancing in public transport served to demonstrate once again the flawed policy-making process that has marred the IATF’s response to the pandemic. In a statement last September 11, Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade announced that the current prescribed distance for physical distancing of one...

House leadership brouhaha sidelines budget woes

ALL EYES WERE on the House of Representatives amid rumors of an ouster bid against Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano (1st Dist., Taguig City) because of complaints over the budget allocations for congressmen’s infrastructure projects. In July 2019, Cayetano and Rep. Lord Allan Velasco (Marinduque) had arrived at a term...

Task Force PhilHealth unable to explain why Duque got off

THE PHILHEALTH scandal that diverted public health funds to private pockets made the pandemic even more difficult to bear for Filipinos already suffering economic deprivation and the continuing spread of the disease. When the anomalies in the medical insurance system broke out in August, the president promptly played up...

SALN access restricted, but largely escapes media criticism

THE LATEST MOVE to curtail the public’s right to know ironically comes from the government’s watchdog against corruption. Ombudsman Samuel Martires restricted public access to Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) filed with his office, per Memorandum Circular No. 1, series of 2020, dated September 10 and...

Press Freedom Protection

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International Day to End Impunity in the Philippines