Doc Gerry Ortega case
barely moving after one year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy3q0QDTisU
A documentary on the murder of Doc Gerry Ortega, produced by the PCIJ with support from the Open Society Institute (OSI)
EXACTLY ONE YEAR ago today (January 24), a gunman shot dead Palawan environmentalist and broadcast journalist Doc Gerry Ortega along Puerto Princesa's busy highway. Ortega was one of Palawan's most popular radio commentators, anchoring the radio program "Ramatak" on DWAR Radio Mindanao Network.
The alleged gunman, Marlon Recamata, was immediately caught by passing firemen and charged with murder. Recamata was also caught on the local government's CCTV cameras casing the scene of the crime, and fleeing immediately after Ortega's murder.
More importantly, ...
Maguindanao:
The Quest for Justice
MAGUINDANAO:The Quest for Justice is a documentary produced by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism on the second anniversary of the Maguindanao Massacre. After two years, the Ampatuans have allegedly ramped up efforts to reach a settlement with the families of the victims. The families of the victims continue to hold out against the proposed settlement, even as they try to survive from day to day. In the meantime, the Ampatuan clan continues to wield clout in the region with its vast resources and continuing political influence.
This is just the teaser. The entire video will be uploaded next month.
Hype & rush mask
gaps in CCT rollout
CCT HOPEFULS. Residents of a barangay in Metro Manila search for their names on the latest shortlist of beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program posted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Photo by Che de los Reyes.
SHE HAD neither bought a lotto ticket nor joined a TV game show. But Marissa felt like she won the jackpot anyway late last year, when her family was chosen as one of the recipients of the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program.
After all, it meant her family would be receiving P800 a month, and while that has since ...
Fickle presidents, opaque
JBC process, elitist court
First of Two Parts
MOSTLY old, mostly male, mostly born and bred in imperious Luzon and all schooled in imperial Manila. Two in every three were jurists and bureaucrats in their previous lives, and thus, also mostly creatures of habit and routine. In the last 20 years, while 15 of the 80 nominees were female, only three women were eventually appointed.
This seemingly impregnable enclave of the elite is actually the Philippine Supreme Court, the most majestic of all the country’s courts, the final arbiter of constitutional questions, and “the last bulwark of democracy” in the land.
Yet unlike Philippine society, which is ...
On EDSA’s 25th, corruption
devours the Armed Forces
First of three parts
MORE THAN a generation ago, idealistic young members of the Philippine military had formed groups like the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) and the Young Officers Union (YOU) and rushed out of the barracks to defy their commander in chief, strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos.
The PCIJ series on military corruption
25 years after People Power
Part 1: On EDSA’s 25th, corruption devours the Armed Forces
Sidebar: A 25-year rebellion
Part 2: Petty, big, routine graft a lucrative trade at AFP
Sidebar: A politicized military
Part 3: Corruption talks trigger worry, debates in AFP
Sidebar: Boots on the ground
Not long after came the EDSA People ...
4 Ombudsmen, 4 failed
crusades vs corruption
Last of Four Parts
FOUR anti-graft czars and 22 years since its birth on Nov. 17, 1989, the Office of the Ombudsman of the Philippines has failed to strike fear in the hearts of crooks, or summon full respect from the people it is supposed to protect against crooks.
PCIJ series on the Office of the Ombudsman:
Part 1: Ombudsman a failure despite flood of funds
Sidebar: Ombudsman goes easy on generals
Part 2: Barangay captains top crooks in jail; majority skirt slammer
Part 3: Mercy high profile on media, Ombudsman stingy with data
Sidebar: Sanctum sanctorum?
Part 4: 4 Ombudsmen, 4 failed crusades vs corruption
Sidebar: COA ...
Maguindanao Massacre:
One Year After
On November 23, 2009, 58 people were murdered by a local warlord from Maguindanao in the worst case of election violence in Philippine history. Police have charged members of members of the powerful and wealthy Ampatuan clan for the murder of the 58, who were in a convoy to the local election office to file the candidacy papers of a challenger to the incumbent political family.
Among the victims were 32 journalists, mostly from Central Mindanao. The incident marks the largest number of journalists killed in a single incident in the world, making the Philippines the most dangerous place for journalists ...
Predators now protectors
of Tubbataha marine park
[caption id="attachment_4115" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="In Tubbataha, the colors of the sea explode. Screen grab by Ed Lingao."][/caption]
RANGER STATION, TUBBATAHA REEFS – At around noon each day, eight strapping young men wait for Valerie to make her appearance. Her daily entrance, coming almost like clockwork, is what makes their day.
“That’s Valerie, sir,” Navy PO2 Jonathan Lobo says proudly as a dark shadow swims underneath the posts that hold up this ranger station. Even at some distance, her large disk-like shape, with the four flippers where arms and legs should be, is unmistakable.
Valerie is certainly no mermaid, but she is the only ...
The spirits, flora, fauna
thrive in Mount Kitanglad
MOUNT KITANGLAD, BUKIDNON – A peso coin drenched in chicken blood is the welcome offered to visitors to this mountain, which soars 2,899 meters over the city of Malaybalay, and the towns of Lantapan, Libona, Impasug-ong, and Sumilao.
[caption id="attachment_4106" align="alignright" width="480" caption="Bae Inatlawan performs a ritual sacrifice. Photo by Jaemark Tordecilla."][/caption]
“This will serve as your identification,” says Bae Inatlawan as she hands over the bloody coin, “so that the spirits will allow you to enter.”
An elder of the Daraghuyan tribal community, Bae Inatlawan – also known as Adelina Tarino – had earlier banged a gong and recited a chant to ...
RP scores so-so in survey
of budget transparency
TRANSPARENCY in government is a cornerstone policy that President Benigno C. Aquino III has promised to uphold. It has been put in doubt because of his perceived reluctance to divulge the report of the commission that investigated the hostage-taking tragedy last August 23 but he could still make good on his pledge by widening public access to government documents, starting with those on the budget.
Also see:
Video: Budget Talk
Relevant Documents
2010 Open Budget Index - Final Report
OBI 2010 Key Findings
OBI 2010 Philippine Report
As it is, the Philippines has a long way to go when it comes to having open budget books. Indeed, ...
