We will not surrender our freedomsToday, 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.Read More Covering the PandemicRead more Covering the CoViD-19 Pandemic The Doctor is (Still) Out: Media on Duterte’s Health WITHOUT MEDICAL bulletins issued by President Rodrigo Duterte’s physician/s, public speculation on the health of the chief executive will continue. The apparent confusion among his own officials and their conflicting statements are not helping any. On October 3, Duterte skipped attendance in a Pagcor event in Malacanang, with... Much Ado About Uson BLOGGER “MOCHA” Uson announced her resignation as assistant secretary of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) on October 3 during the deliberations of the Senate finance subcommittee on the agency’s budget. The subcommittee had postponed the hearings twice, after she failed to attend scheduled sessions on September... Prison Congestion: Focus on Women Detainees CHEERS TO the Philippine Daily Inquirer for calling attention to the plight of female detainees in the Quezon City Female Dormitory (QCFD). In June 2018, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) noted a congestion rate of 612 percent in Philippine jails. The increase in the number... Media Gloss Over Nuances in Recent Survey Results POLLING FIRMS Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia closed the month of September with the release of the results of their latest surveys of public opinion on national issues, as well as the approval ratings of top government officials. SWS’ Second Quarter 2018 Social Weather Survey, conducted from... “Red October” Plot: Some Journalists Asked the Hard Questions THERE WAS not much revealed during the president’s so-called “tete-a-tete” with his chief legal counsel, Sal Panelo, on September 11, including the president saying there was a plot to overthrow him. He had been saying the same thing since 2016. This time, however, he said the intelligence was from... Still on Trillanes Amnesty: Few Reports Questioned Court Ruling MAKATI REGIONAL Trial Court (RTC) Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda on September 25 reopened the rebellion case against then Navy officer Antonio Trillanes IV that he had dismissed in 2011, when the now senator was granted amnesty by then President Benigno Aquino III. President Rodrigo Duterte voided that... Duterte’s EJK ‘Admission’: Media Yield to Palace Spin PRESIDENT RODRIGO Duterte’s blasphemous, sexist, anti-poor tirades, including hate speech, have made enough headlines in the past to make such offensive outbursts almost a cliché. During the oath-taking of new Career Executive Service Officers in Malacañang last September 27, he asked,“Ano kasalanan ko? Nagnakaw ba ako diyan ni... Following up on Ompong’s Destruction POST-TYPHOON ‘OMPONG,’ the media scrambled to cover the provinces hit hardest by the disaster, reporting on casualties, damage to infrastructure and agriculture, as well as rescue and relief efforts. Their reports understandably focused on Itogon, Benguet, where a deadly landslide on September 15 killed more than 50 people.... A Closer Examination: Why the Deaths in Itogon? CHEERS TO Rappler for its two-part story examining the Itogon community’s vulnerability and for exposing the weak law enforcement which were among the factors that led to the many casualties from the landslide as Ompong lashed the provinces of northern Luzon. In the first part, “Itogon Tragedy: Disaster Response... Remembering Martial Law: Media Repudiate Attempts to Revise History THOUSANDS OF protesters from different groups and sectors gathered at Manila’s Luneta Park last September 21, united by the call “never forget, never again” to Martial Law. Forty-six years ago to the day, President Ferdinand Marcos had signed Proclamation 1081, which marked the beginning of 14 years... « Previous1…8586878889…202Next »