How Covid-19 Cases Exploded in Prisons

Economic difficulties arising from the pandemic have seen Grade 11 and 12 students from private schools flocking to public schools struggling to implement the K to 12 Basic Education Program. Over a hundred private schools offering senior high school education have closed because of low enrollment.

The indiscriminate distribution and use of breastmilk substitutes, especially during emergencies, can change feeding practices and put babies at greater risk of illness.

Exclusive breastfeeding among infants 0 to 5.9 months has nearly doubled, from 30 percent in 2003 to 58 percent in 2019.

Lack of gadgets, internet connections and training pose major problems for the Department of Education when school opens on Oct. 5. Is an ‘academic freeze’ warranted?

Learners with special education needs require face-to-face instruction but are vulnerable to the coronavirus disease. Parents and teachers have no choice but to make distance learning work.

Pandemic response is taking up bulk of resources, including funds meant for disaster management.

Warnings fell on deaf ears until infections began to sprout mid-April.

More than a century ago, Philippine prisons reeled from a flu pandemic. History might be repeated without adequate healthcare for prisoners and drastic interventions to stem the Covid-19 outbreak.

Three persons deprived of liberty describe how inhuman conditions in the country’s jails and prisons are placing them at greater risk amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Here are their accounts as told to Aie Balagtas See. The images, drawn by Alexandra Paredes, are artistic renderings inspired by PCIJ file photos of prisoners from various jails.

Technology should make the judicial system relevant and responsive, not just to automate antiquated processes, according to experts.

Constitutional questions pose a challenge to making digital courtrooms a reality.

The Philippines is among many governments in the world that had to suspend the processing of freedom-of-information or FOI requests because of the pandemic. 

The pandemic is laying bare lingering issues such as abuse of power, human rights violations, lack of access to the justice system, overcrowded jails and detention centers, lack of accountability, weaponization of the law, and impunity.

Human rights advocates believe that numbers will still increase and the full force of Covid-19 is yet to be felt. They also call for transparency in releasing death and infection rates to help craft policies and mitigate the spread of false information.

The Philippines has the most crowded correctional system in the world. It's only a matter of time before the virus enters and spreads in prison and jail facilities. Humanitarian groups have called for the early release of elderly and sickly and nonviolent, low-risk detainees.

Marawi residents find it hard to follow precautions against the novel coronavirus disease when relief goods are limited and water trucks are reducing trips. Local authorities say they do not have enough resources to feed the people for an extended period. They need outside help.

Human rights lawyer Kristina Conti, counsel of the families of drug war victims, said ICC's decisions are hard to predict because its actions are highly compartmentalized. What is clear from the recent developments, though, is that they have strong evidence to begin a trial, she told the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).

PCIJ traces how prices were set in the market during the rice shortage season last year. It finds that prices increased by at least 80% to as much as 157% from farmgate to retail. 

Delays in the rate review process mean the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines will continue to charge transmission rates that critics have described as ‘excessive.’