SHEILA S. CORONEL, the founding Executive Director of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and currently the director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism of Columbia University in New York, has started her own blog.

And true to form, Coronel chose to write about something very close to her heart. Her blog, Watchdog Watcher, is her way of “exploring the changing landscape of global investigative journalism.”

“I’ve taught journalists in Asia, Eastern Europe, and elsewhere and am an avid watcher of investigative reporting,” Coronel writes in her blog. “This blog draws from my work, both past and present. It looks at how watchdog reporting is being done around the world; it also contains reflections on what I think is a golden moment for investigative reporting, but also a moment fraught with challenges and threats.”

Her blog draws from her long experiences as an investigative journalist in the Philippines and one of the founding members of the PCIJ, as well as from her experience teaching and interacting with journalists and journalism students at one of the world’s premier journalism schools. In her first post on March 15 this year entitled A golden moment for Global Muckraking, Coronel wrote of how advances in technology and social media as well as emerging democracy movements in previously restricted societies have opened so many doors for investigative journalists, doors that should be explored further by any journalist worth his salt. This is the time, Coronel said, for journalists to take advantage of all these opportunities to collaborate across borders and tap into databases that have long been out of reach.

“From Bahrain to Burma, from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe, savvy muckrakers are using blogs, mobile phones, Google maps, and social media to expose the excesses of the powerful,” she wrote. “Watchdog sites have taken advantage of the Internet to report about corruption and organized criome. Moreover, journalists overseas are mining information from online public records and databases to uncover stories that would previously have been buried in secrecy.”

Her April 7 blog entry Follow the Money (and the houses) rang with much more familiarity for Filipinos, as she spoke of her experiences in investigating the mansions and mistresses of then President Joseph Estrada. In that entry, Coronel spoke of how persistence and hard work in tracking down and analyzing documents cracked open the case of Estrada, paving the way for his impeachment and eventual removal from office.

“I didn’t know much about real estate until 2000 when my colleagues and I  at the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism were checking out rumors that then President Joseph Estrada —  a former movie actor famous for his boozing and womanizing — was building fabulous houses for a string of mistresses. It turned out that the houses were just the most visible manifestations of the deep-seated corruption that was taking place during Estrada’s reign,” she wrote in her blog.

“We found that in just the first two-and-a-half years of his presidency, Estrada had used shell companies to purchase real estate worth about $40 million, more than  25 times his declared net worth.  Impeachment charges were filed against Estrada after our exposé, and he was ousted in a popular uprising before the trial was concluded,” Coronel said.

Coronel however went further by citing other outstanding examples of how investigative journalism worldwide exposed the trail of houses being collected by the rich and powerful of the world, from a US senator to a former prime minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“I’ve become house-conscious and have kept an informal tally of officials around the world whose crimes and misdeameanors have come to light because of their mania for mansions (cars are a close second, especially Ferraris and Bentleys, followed by private jets and yachts). Whether in the United States or Nigeria, South Africa or Bosnia, public officials have a penchant for using the people’s money to acquire real property. It wasn’t just Imelda Marcos who suffered from a publicly-financed edifice complex,” Coronel says in her blog entry.

Her most recent post on April 23 showed how journalists from the US and Hong Kong “mined corporate registries, exchange filings and property records” in order to trace the worldwide wealth trail of Bo Xilai, a recently purged Chinese Communist Party official.

PRESIDENT AQUINO asked members of the Philippine press to be more accountable to their reading and viewing public by showing more balance and fairness in the selection and treatment of stories that they publish.

But in taking to task members of the Philippine media during the 2012 National Press Forum of the Philippine Press Institute at the Traders Hotel, the President skipped any mention of government’s own “accountabilities” to the media, such as the long-delayed Freedom of Information (FOI) Act that he had committed to push in 2010, or the continued murders and harassment of media.

In his keynote address before assembled editors, publishers and reporters, the President said that while some media outlets have been fair and balanced, not everyone adheres to the principle of “getting it first, and getting it right.”

“Nandiyan pa po kaya ang prinsipyo ng “get it first, but get it right,” o napalitan na ito ng “get it first, siguruhin na bebenta ang storya, at kung hindi tama ang impormasyon, mag-sorry ka na lang,” the President said.

(Do we still hold to the principle of get it first, but get it right, or has it been replaced by get it first, make sure the story sells, and if the information is not correct, just apologize later.)

The President cited as examples an earlier news report that was based on a tweet that alleged that the President was spotted shopping with a girlfriend in the Greenhills district on a workday. The President said the report was unfair, as a cursory check by media would have shown that he was locked up in a meeting with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) that whole day to approve more than a hundred billion pesos worth of projects.

The President said the news reports that came out were particularly malicious, as it was made to appear that he was goofing off while the country was facing several major issues.

The President said that all the Malacanang reporters had to do to confirm the report was to peek out their windows to see if the Presidential convoy had left the Palace grounds. Unfortunately, the President said that at least one media outlet chose to run the story first, and then apologize for the error later.

The President also wondered why media outlets liked to highlight travel advisories issued by foreign embassies based in Manila, especially when these were negative in nature. The President pointed out that most of these travel advisories were made by diplomatic missions in Manila based on what they see in local print and television news programs.

On the other hand, the President cited other members of the media for fair and balanced reporting. In particular, the President cited the report published by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) that detailed progress in the efforts to clean up the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) of its image as one of the most corrupt agencies in government.

“Hindi po ba napakabuti ng naidulot na pag-angat ng morale ng taumbayan dahil sa mga PCIJ report ukol sa tapat at malinis na mga proyekto ng DPWH, o ng mga ulat tungkol sa pag-angat ng ekonomiya ng ating bansa?” the President said.

(Isn’t it good for national morale to have reports such as those from the PCIJ about the honest and clean projects of the DPWH, or the reports about the improving economy of our country?)

PPI officials acknowledged the need for media to make itself more accountable through active policing of media’s ranks. In the open forum that followed the President’s speech, several speakers stressed the need for a more proactive media to ensure professionalism and ethical behavior, while at the same time parrying attempts by some sectors to impose government restrictions. One such proposal that has met stiff opposition from the media sector is the proposed Right of Reply bill that some congressmen want to piggyback on the FOI bill.

However, one news media executive, who asked not to be named, said it was not fair for the President to berate media without recognizing and acknowledging the government’s inability to meet its accountabilities to the fourth estate.

In particular, the media executive pointed out that the President still was mum on whether he was finally endorsing the long-delayed FOI bill. There was also no mention of government’s apparent inability to address the issue of violence against media, the executive said.

THERE’S MORE TO THE prostitution scandal rocking the United States secret service than just the security issues involving U.S. President Barack Obama.

A network of 300 civil society organizations in Latin America decried last week’s incident when members of a US secret service advance party sent ahead to Columbia to secure the site for visiting US President Barack Obama got involved in a dispute over payment of local sex workers.

Some 12 secret service members and half a dozen military officers allegedly brought several sex workers to their hotel a week before Obama’s arrival for the Summit of the Americas. The scandal broke out when the sex wprkers said that at least one of the secret service members had refused to pay the agreed amount.

The US media has largely focused on the issue of whether the extra-curricular activities of the agents had compromised the security of Obama. The agents have already been stripped of their security clearances, and six of them have been fired or forced to resign.

However, the Latin American and Caribbean Network for Democracy (Redlad) decried the attitude of the secret service agents “to take advantage of their power and refuse to pay what was agreed with the workers, after taking the woman’s body and making use of sexual services.”

The group said that while prostitution has always been and will always be “a human rights issue and a manifestation of the discrimination that affects women,” the actions of the secret service agents was another example of violence against women.

“We are aware that prostitution in Cartagena is due to inequality and poverty in many of our cities, and that Cartagena is one of the centers of sex tourism which affects women and girls and prostitution increases the feed of international networks of sexual tourism,” Redlad said in a statement.

The group demanded that the full disclosure of the results of the investigations supposedly being done by the US Embassy in Columbia, the Foreign Ministry of Columbia, and the local government of Cartagena.

Moreover, the group demanded that the Columbian government provide adequate security for the sex workers to ensure their safety while the scandal is being investigated.

“We demand further progress of public policies to eradicate gender violence, discrimination, trafficking in women and sexual exploitation of children in the city,” the groups said.

CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS are asking the Commission on Elections to establish firmer and clearer rules and procedures on what candidates and political parties can do with excess campaign contributions.

The lawyers’ group Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) and several civil society groups are submitting to the Comelec on Friday a list of recommended reforms that should be implemented in time for the May 2013 mid-term elections.

Chief among these – stricter rules on what may be done with excess campaign contributions.

The issue of excess contributions surfaced following the last two elections, when several candidates admitted that they earned millions of pesos from campaign contributions that had not been spent.

After the May 10 2010 Presidential elections, President Benigno S. Aquino III admitted to the Comelec that he had almost P37 million in unspent campaign contributions. Prior to that, former presidential son Mikey Arroyo publicly admitted that he had used excess campaign cotnributions in his run for a congressional seat in Pampanga to buy a house and lot in California.

The country’s election laws are silent on what to do with excess campaign contributions. In the past, many politicians just quietly pocket their excess campaign contributions, said Lente president Luie Tito Guia. Because of this gap in the law, some politicians have reportedly resorted to using elections as a way to raise money.

“Ang dami kasi, kokolekta ng five million pesos, ang gagastusin lang one million. Babayad lang ako ng tax for income, okay na yun, hindi ko naman pinaghirapan yun eh,” Guia said. “Ang daming gumagawa nun.”

(A lot of them would collect, say, five million and then spend only one million. They may just declare the excess as income, since they didn’t work for it anyway. A lot do that.)

Guia said Comelec has to issue clearer rules on the nature of excess campaign contributions, especially since these were tax-free donations made by supporters of a candidate specifically for the campaign. Guia said there was something wrong with the idea of candidates pocketing excess contributions from their supporters when the money was intended for the campaign. “Ibig sabihin ba pwede nang ibulsa ang sobra basta magbayad lang ng buwis?” (Does this mean that they can pocket the excess contributions after merely paying a tax?)

Interestingly, candidates with excess campaign contributions don’t seem to be declaring these extra funds in their income tax returns, even though some of them clearly treat the excess funds as their “income,” as in the case of Mr. Mikey Arroyo. For his part, President Aquino did not reflect the P 37 million excess campaign funds in the last Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net worth (SALN) that he filed in 2011. If he had declared it as income, he would have had to pay several millions of pesos in income tax.

Some have proposed that the excess funds be put into a pool managed by the Comelec; others have proposed that the funds go to the account of the political party, for use in the next elections.

Whatever the case, Guia said that the lack of clarity on the matter means that some politicians will continue to look at campaign donations as their personal kitty.

In a roundtable discussion on the draft rules and regulations governing campaign finance for the 2013 elections, the civil society and lawyers groups drew up a list of other concerns for the Coemelc to tackle before the country enters the election season.

These include:

• Guidelines and rules on how to monitor and regulate political advertising in the internet.
• Require political candidates to submit their advertising and communications plan, including the target platforms, media agencies, advertising agencies, as well as identifying a central coordinator.
• Firmer rules on whether to allow tandem or combo advertisements, where a candidate who may have consumed most of his alloted airtime rides on the airtime of allies or coalition members.
• Guidelines on how to count the number of advertising minutes consumed, as against the allowed number of minutes for the candidate. This came up after some media organizations noted how both media networks and politicians try to maneuver around airtime limits by spreading their ads among regional stations and provincial affiliates.
• Require media organizations to have a point person to deal with both the Comelec and candidates buying airtime or ad space. Because of lack of uniformity, it is not clear if the Comelec should deal with the sales or marketing people in the media agencies.

Guia said the proposals will be submitted to the Comelec for the body’s consideration and early action. Guia said the proposals are the result of a series of consultative meetings with groups such as the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Libertas, the UP College of Law, the Association of Schools of Public Administration in the Philippines, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.

INDONESIAN CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS expressed concern over their government’s implementation of its commitments to the Open Governmetn Partnership (OGP) program, saying Jakarta’s international image of transparency and openness is not consistent with its actions on the domestic level.

A network of Indonesian CSOs has released to the media an independent report on the progress of the Indonesian government in implementing its commitments under the OGP. The report was produced by the groups MediaLink, Yappika, ICW, IPC, and the Indonesia Budget Center (IBC).

“There has been a huge paradox between Indonesia’s image of openness in the international arena, and the real implementation and commitment of the UU KIP (Indonesian Public Information Openness Law) in domestic level,” the groups said in a statement released to media agencies. “The Indonesian government wants to gain international positive image while in domestic level, reality shows the opposite.”

For instance, the groups said that Jakarta has “gone as far as cutting up the programs to carry out the OGP, weakened the concept of an open and transparent government as the source of information.” The groups said that while the government committed to accelerate the implementation of the Public Information Openness Law or UU KIP, “only a few (institutions) have implemented the regulation.”

For example, only a third of the Central Public Agencies in Indonesia now have a Center of Information and Documentation Management in their organizational structure, according to data from the Central Information Commission.

In addition, “nearly all Ministries/other government agencies” have not adjusted their website contents “to meet the standards for regular information types as is stipulated in the UU KIP.”

“Only nine ministries/government agencies were able to obtain more than 50 percent score in the assessment of regular information release,” the CSOs said in a statement. “In the level of local government agencies/institutions, only seven of total 33 provincial government administrations in Indonesia were able to obtain more than 50 percent score for the categories of regular information release and establishment of Provincial Information Commission.”

The groups noted three Indonesian government agencies that had were lagging in the implementation of Indonesia’s information laws. These were the National Police, the Directorate General of Taxes, and the National Land Agency.

The groups pushed for a fuller implementation of the Public Information Openness law, saying this would be “more than enough to create an open and transparent governance.”

“We must not let people think that UU KIP (Public Information Openness law) is all about creating information portals,” the groups said. “remember, portal is one of the many media to distribute information, not the only media, and it must always comply with the information type and classification as is ruled out in the UU KIP.”

HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYERS from the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) have asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its earlier reversal of an award for civil damages to victims of human rights abuses under the Marcos regime and exonerating several former military officers, including now-Senator Panfilo Lacson.

In an omnibus motion for reconsideration filed by FLAG national chairman Atty. Jose Manuel Diokno, the group argued that there was nothign wrong with the decision of a Quezon City Regional Trial Court that found former armed forces chief of staff Gen. Fabian Ver, former military intelligence group head Panfilo Lacson, and several other military officers guilty of torturing Rogelio Aberca and 18 other suspected subversives. The accused had been ordered to pay the victims P350,000 in damages each.

Last week, the Supreme Court 3rd division junked the QC RTC decision, saying the accused military officers were denied due process.

In particular, the high tribunal said that the accused were not duly notified by the QC RTC of the case against them, thus depriving them of the chance to defend themselves in court.

The original case was promulgated by QC RTC judge Delilah Magtolis in 1993. The respondent military officials filed an appeal before the Court of Appeals. In 2003, the CA ruled in favor of the respondents. The case was elevated to the Supreme Court for final judgement.

Diokno said this is the longest running human rights case in Philippine legal history, and the first case that upheld and applied the principle of command responsibility for military officials and their subordinates.

The case was originally filed by the human rights victims in 1983. The complaint was first dismissed by Judge Wilhelm Fortun, but it was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1988.

Diokno said the respondents were notified that the case was reinstated in October 1988 through their then-counsel, the Office of the Solicitor General. The OSG would remain their counsels until 1990, when the Supreme Court ruled that public officials cannot be represented by the OSG for felony offenses.

The problem arose after the 1986 EDSA revolution, when the officers changed their addresses and official posts. The RTC could not locate the respondents through their home addresses, and relied on a notice published in a newspaper. The CA and the Supreme Court ruled that this violated their right to due process.

But Diokno said proof that the respondents were well aware of the case was the fact that they had been filing motions to dismiss the case through their lawyers. Moreover, Diokno said it was the obligation of the respondents to keep in touch with the court, and be updated with the proceedings, especially since they were aware that there was a case pending against them. Diokno said Judge Magtolis gave the respondents every chance to respond to the charges against them, and it was the fault of the respondents that they could not be located by the court.

IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS, Manila’s newspapers have been peppered with stories of Palace officials expressing apprehension over reports that the population data and the voters list for both Maguindanao province and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) appear to be badly bloated.

In the March 28 edition of BusinessWorld, the newspaper reported that the Commission on Elections was already poised to nullify the voter’s list for ARMM because of the apparent discrepancies.

On that same day, GMANews.TV, the online news website of GMA Network, reported that the National Statistics Office found a discrepancy of at least a million in the population figures of ARMM between 2007 and 2010. NSO Administator Carmencita Ericta made the disclosure in a briefing she gave to President Benigno S. Aquino and his cabinet.

The Sunstar reported that as a result of the findings, the President has refused to certify the release of the 2010 national census of population until the irregularities are addressed.

The recent reports are interesting in that they echo the findings of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism in a story published as early as February 2010, or two years ago.

On Feb. 10 2010, PCIJ fellow Roel Landingin released the story Sharp spike in Maguindanao, ARMM population a big riddle, where he reported on the findings of a study by Cornell University fellow Florio Arguillas that showed very unusual trends in the population data of both Maguindanao and ARMM. The data appeared to show that Maguindanao and ARMM’s populations were growing at an alarming rate of more than twice the national average. Too, the population spike appeared to be occuring for voting-age residents only.

Interestingly, some demographers appeared hesitant to accept Arguillas’ findings of anomalies in the ARMM and Maguindanao population figures, even as NSO’s Ericta acknowledged to him in 2010 that the figures they have were problematic.

At the same time Landingin’s story was released to the mainstream newspapers and online sites, the PCIJ also released a video version to the broadcast media. Unfortunately, population stories did not appear to be sexy enough for some media agencies, as the print and video stories did not get major play in mainstream media.

At least, until it was already the Palace making the complaint.