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CONTACT DETAILS
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Criselda II Bldg.,
107 Scout de Guia St.
Quezon City 1104
Philippines
Tel: (632) 4104768/9
9293117
Fax: (632) 9293571
Email: pcij@pcij.org
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MINDING MINING
A Mess of Mines
by KAROL ANNE M. ILAGAN
When mines shut down, they don’t just fade away like old soldiers. They fester and fall apart once their owners walk away.
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Former mine site of Benguet Exploration
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CLOSING DOWN a mine is not just a matter of giving employees their walking papers and putting a padlock on the door. Indeed, when a mine ceases operations, a full-blown cleanup (plus sometimes an orderly dismantling) follows. Or at least that is what should happen.
Over the last three decades, several large-scale mines in the country have been shut down because of economic loss, labor disputes, or a rejected mining application. But none of these mines was rehabilitated right after closure; unfortunately, government regulations at the time lacked the provision to enforce remediation. Those regulations came in 1996, when guidelines on mine rehabilitation and decommissioning were set in the implementing rules and regulations of the Mining Act of 1995.
AFTER MARCOPPER
The Canadian Quandary
by ISA LORENZO and PHILIP NEY
Canadian mining firms are subject to strict environmental and social regulations in their home country, but away from the prying eyes of Canadian citizens and media, they do not behave as well overseas.
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Canatuan open-pit mine
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MANILA, PHILIPPINES AND LETHBRIDGE, CANADA — Canadian companies are major players in the global mining industry, and so it’s no surprise that they have more than made their presence felt in the Philippines. Unfortunately, that presence has not always been welcome — at least not by the immediate host communities. Worse, Canadian mining firms have acquired a notorious reputation in the Philippines, and there are indications that this is not about to change anytime soon. |
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12 YEARS AFTER MINING DISASTER
Chronic Illnesses on the Rise in Marcopper Towns
by
Karol Anne M. Ilagan TWELVE years after a major mining catastrophe there, toxic mine wastes still choke key waterways in Marinduque. The threat of more mine tailings pouring into Boac and Mogpog rivers and Calancan Bay also remains, as abandoned mine structures are in need of repairs. Despite these, there is renewed talk of opening up the province to mining again, upsetting many locals and concerned organizations.
SEE
ALSO:
BEAUTIFICATION IN A TIME OF CRISIS?
House Facelift to Cost Taxpayers P1 Billion; Fund Source a Puzzle
by
Tita C. Valderama THE
massive renovation project at the House of Representatives in time for the eighth state of the nation address (SONA) of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was initially estimated to cost P200 million. But the PCIJ discovered that the prettified House will actually cost taxpayers some P1 billion.
Arroyo Allies Linked to 'Garci' Behind Mystery Firm in Pagcor 'Tourism City'
by
Malou Mangahas and Tita C. Valderama THIS
two-part report, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) uncovers the mysterious and muddled ownership interests behind Bloombury, and gaps in Pagcor's decision to enroll it as an investor in “Tourism City.”
SEE
ALSO:
DESPITE PROTECTED AREA STATUS
Illegal Fish Cage Operations Poison Taal Lake
by
Marlon Alexander Luistro ASIDE
from being an eyesore, the unregulated fish cage operations at the world-famous Taal Lake are killing this declared protected area.
MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Maguindanao, RP Fall Behind Key Indicators for Education
by
Jaileen F. Jimeno THE
Arroyo administration is falling behind all key indicators of progress in a most strategic Millennium Development Goal: education. In faraway Maguindanao, for instance, more children are failing to enroll and stay in school, and the ratio of students to teachers, classrooms and books is getting worse.
WHEN POLITICS POLLUTES CIVIL SERVICE
New CSC Chief Faces Pack of Ineligible Bureaucrats
by
Isa Lorenzo and Malou Mangahas THE
appointment of Cabinet secretary Ricardo Saludo as chair of the Civil Service Commission signals the virtual capture by political appointees of senior government positions previously reserved for career service personnel.
SEE
ALSO:
THE
PERILS AND PITFALLS OF AID
ODA Surge Sparks Scandals for Arroyo, Debt Woes for RP
by
Roel R. Landingin THIS
three-part series caps a six-month review by the PCIJ of project
and official documents covering 71 ODA projects funded by the Philippines
biggest ODA lenders. Part 1 looks at how the National Economic and
Development Authority (NEDA) and its project evaluation process
have been weakened and violated by pressure from lobbyists and political
sponsors of some projects.
SEE
ALSO:
Price-Control-Board Debate May Delay Cheap Drugs Law
by
Alecks P. Pabico
AFTER
almost a decade, a bill seeking to ensure access to affordable,
quality medicines by majority of poor Filipinos is on the verge
of finally becoming a law. But unless the matter devolves into one
of political expediency, contentious issues between the House and
Senate versions of the bill could delay its immediate passage.
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Online
Edition
IN THE NEWS
House Opposition Seeks Caps on Arroyo's Spending Habits
by
Tita C. Valderama
In light of the fertilizer funds scam, a bill at the Lower House seeks to control the president’s wide discretion in disbursing public money and other unspent amounts in the annual budget program.
CROSSBORDER
Thailand's Continuing Crisis
by
Johanna Son
Relative calm has returned to Bangkok, and reports reaching here say the protesters’ politician-allies are fast gaining numbers in parliament. But deep schisms in Thai society have now been exposed, indicating that this crisis is far from being over.
Online
Edition
DISPUTE OVER HACIENDA BACAN
Mike Arroyo Claim Stalls Land Reform in Negros
by
Annie Ruth C. Sabangan
For seven years now, efforts of the farmer-beneficiaries to claim the 157-hectare Hacienda Bacan in Isabela town, Negros Occidental, an estate owned by the First Couple, spouses Gloria Macapagal and Jose Miguel Arroyo and their families, have yet to bear fruit, no thanks to the First Gentleman.
SPECIAL REPORT
Every 6 Hours, Pirates Seize a Filipino Seaman
by
Roel R. Landingin
It’s no secret that the shipping industry is one of the most dangerous in the world, with the many threats seafarers have to face seemingly growing each year. Recently, however, piracy has become among the top risks endured by Filipino seamen.
PERSPECTIVE
That Bumpy Ride Called Democracy
by
Johanna Son
Despite their fairly different histories and cultures, the Philippines and Thailand have wound up with similar political experiences.
PUBLIC EYE
Amid the Fighting, the Clan Still Rules in Maguindanao
by
Jaileen F. Jimeno
The Ampatuans are the latest in the string of clans that wield power and privilege in Mindanao.
FIRST PERSON | AUGUST 21, 1983
A Million Came for Ninoy as Reporters Battled with Censors
by
Joel C. Paredes
This is a first-person account of how journalists tried to fight off Marcos's censors in Malacañang, as the streets of Metro Manila swelled with protest rallies for the slain Senator Benigno 'Ninoy' Aquino Jr.
TILL DEBT DO US PART?
Gloria's Inglorious Record: Biggest Debtor, Least Popular
by
Alecks P. Pabico
In her eighth and latest State of the Nation Address, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo boasted that her administration has managed to retire debts in great amounts, "reducing the drag on our country's development." Under Arroyo, however, the national government's debt stock has grown to a staggering P3.87 trillion.
THE ECONOMY
Misplaced Government Spending Worsens Woes
by
Jaileen F. Jimeno and Karol Anne M. Ilagan
In her State of the Nation Address, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo reported on the economic gains her administration chalked up in 2007. Her speech, however, ignored the bleak data that government statisticians have collected in the last six months.
SEE ALSO:
PUBLIC EYE
Romulo L. Neri: Can Golf, Realpolitik Work at SSS?
by
Alecks P. Pabico
Romulo Neri's designation as head of the Social Security System drew a mix of surprise, criticism and revulsion. Going by his performance record as NEDA chief as seen by his deputies, staff personnel and other informed sources, the public reaction could just be appropriate.
PUBLIC EYE
Arroyo Fails COA Audit: Fairness of Presidency's Books 'Doubtful'
by
Malou Mangahas
The Arroyo government has repeatedly called for belt-tightening, on both the private and public sector. But the latest Commission on Audit report on the Office of the President reveals the seat of power itself has not been judicious in its use of taxpayers' money.
PUBLIC EYE
No Cure for Costly Medicines? Draft Law Affirms Patent Rights of Drug Firms
by
Alecks P. Pabico
Some legal experts fear that despite its promise of affordable medicines, the recently ratified law would face difficulties in its implementation, in large part because pharmaceutical companies could take advantage of the loopholes in the patent-related amendments.
SEE ALSO:
2015 OR BUST?
Naga City's Class Act
by
Alecks P. Pabico
BICOL'S model city is trying its best to address its 'weakest link' in achieving the Millennium Development Goals: keeping schoolchildren in class to complete elementary education.
OTHER
FEATURE:
FIRST PERSON
Still Reeling from Military Junta, Burma a Mess After Cyclone
by
Tita Valderama
Tita Valderama was in Burma as a fellow of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance when cyclone Nagris battered Yangon (Rangoon), its former capital, last weekend and left thousands of Burmese dead.
PERSPECTIVE
An Absolute Privilege
by
Nepomuceno Malaluan
Former socioeconomic planning secretary Romulo Neri scored a legal victory when the Supreme Court said the Senate could not compel him to answer three questions that it found to be covered by executive privilege. But transparency advocates say the public may end up the loser should that decision become final.
PERSPECTIVE
Executive Privilege Versus Public Interest
by
Nepomuceno Malaluan
Executive privilege has
become a bogey of sorts for those who want to scrutinize government
projects and programs.
HIMIG PINOY
The Business of Making Music
by
Prime Sarmiento
In the face of an increasingly complicated market and the rise of piracy, the local recording industry, while still alive, is not exactly doing very well.
OTHER
FEATURES:
MAD OVER MONEY
Enhancing the 'Electronic' in E-commerce
by
Alecks P. Pabico
E-commerce insiders and observers are saying that 2008 may yet become
the turnaround year for the Philippine online economy.
OTHER
FEATURES:
PUBLIC EYE
From Newshound to News Target
by
Jaileen F. Jimeno
HE used to cover politics when he was a newsman, but today politician
Ben Evardone, who is now on his second term as governor of Eastern
Samar, has become the news.
PUBLIC EYE
No Coming-Out Party for PLLO
by
Jaileen F. Jimeno
IT has never had any need for publicity, and that remains true to
this day. But recently the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office
(PLLO) has come under the spotlight as two of its undersecretaries
were implicated in the alleged Palace payoffs scandal.
PUBLIC
EYE
Has NEDA Gone Nada?
by
Alecks P. Pabico
ONCE powerful and influential, the National Economic and Development
Authority has been driven to its "lowest point" today in the wake
of the national broadband deal fiasco.
POWER
AND POISONS
Toxins 'R' Us
by
Kenneth Hartigan-Go
TOXIC substances are all around us. And as the world becomes more
complex, humans have become part of the reason why new forms of
poisoning are emerging at an ever-increasing pace.
OTHER
FEATURES:
PREVIOUS
ISSUES
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Filipinos in Barack’s America
THIS week, the PCIJ Channel features an interview with U.S.-based Filipino journalist Benjamin Pimentel, author of Pareng Barack: Filipinos in Obama’s America.
MCC: No grant assistance forthcoming until Arroyo gov’t shows it can curb corruption
WHENEVER it is confronted with the latest survey findings about the worsening levels of corruption in the country, the Arroyo government would typically dismiss the results as based on “mere perception.”
A torrent of Cha-cha measures
THEY usually begin with promising phrases like “to strengthen” or “to improve” governance, and then almost always end up making a common recommendation — either “to amend” or “to revise” the 1987 Constitution.
So much for delicadeza
WITH delicadeza just so easily dispensed with, the fourth impeachment complaint against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was junked last week and goes to a plenary vote this Tuesday. But it is unlikely that enough votes will be garnered to overturn the House of Representatives justice committee’s ruling declaring the impeachment complaint void for being insufficient in substance.
SEE
ALSO:
PCIJ reaps 2008 DAJA honors
THE PCIJ again emerged victorious at the 2008 Developing Asia Journalism Awards (DAJA) held recently in Tokyo, Japan, garnering the top prize in one of four categories and clinching runner-up honors in another.
Is there a storm on the horizon?
WE feature on the blog this latest paper written by Dr. Joel Rocamora, chairperson of the Akbayan party-list group and former executive director of the Institute for Popular Democracy. In his paper, Rocamora presents his reading of the current situation in light of the recent call for the setting up of a “new government” by some Catholic bishops, including Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, the president of the influential, albeit divided, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
Welcome home, Joc-Joc
IT is not likely that Jocelyn ‘Joc-Joc’ Bolante will be arrested by government agents when he finally arrives in the country anytime this week after being deported from the U.S. (Some reports expect his arrival tomorrow at around 11 p.m. aboard a Northwest Airlines flight from Nagoya, Japan.)
REPORTING ON CONFLICT AND PEACE: THE STORY OF MINDANAO
Journalism and conflict in the Philippines
THE media have abdicated their watchdog role on the issue of the peace negotiations between the Arroyo government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), particularly with regard to the abandoned memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain.
SEE
ALSO:
When justices go bad: Breaching the code of judicial conduct
FOR transgressions of the Code of Judicial Conduct, committing “irregularities and improprieties” prejudicial to the integrity of the judiciary, five justices of the Court of Appeals were meted sanctions by the Supreme Court ranging from dismissal, suspension and reprimand in connection with the Manila Electric Company (Meralco)-Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) bribery scandal.
'Collateral damage'
AT mid-morning of September 8, the heavens dropped a bomb allegedly fired by a military aircraft on Datu Piang town, Maguindanao province. In an instant, five members of the Manunggal family of Sitio Dagading, Barangay Butilen, fell dead, even as one eventually perished while being treated in a hospital. Only two family members survived, if also similarly scarred. Two days hence, government’s promise to investigate the incident has yielded no results.
IMAGE SLIDESHOW
Bakwit
THOUSANDS of evacuees, who fled their villages two weeks ago amid renewed hostilities between government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in different parts of Mindanao, continue to seek shelter in evacuation centers. The latest report of the National Disaster Coordinating Council has placed the number of evacuees at 22,861 families, or 111,133 persons, out of the close to half a million affected population.
U.S. Court of Appeals rejects Bolante asylum petition
IT’S already strike three for former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn ‘Joc-Joc’ Bolante in his legal battle seeking political asylum in the U.S. This is after the U.S. Court of Appeals recently denied his petition for asylum, upholding the earlier decisions handed down by the immigration court and immigration appeals board in Chicago.
GRP-MILF MOA ON ANCESTRAL DOMAIN
The U.S. and the Bangsamoro struggle: Selfish-determination vs self-determination
PCIJ contributor Herbert Docena, an associate of the regional policy research institute, Focus on the Global South, provides a timely Perspective piece on the scuttled peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation front (MILF) over the issue of the controversial memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD).
SEE
ALSO:
JPEPA: A case of 'giving away everything but getting nothing'
INDEPENDENT consultant Edna Espos offers her own critique of the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), giving senators yet more reasons why they should not ratify the proposed treaty many of whose provisions have already been established to be constitutionally infirm.
'News as a living organism'
BELOW is the full text of Sheila Coronel’s lecture last Friday, August 22, at the University of the Philippines National Institute of Science and Mathematics Education Development (NISMED) Auditorium. The lecture is part of the ongoing “UP: View from the Outside” lectures of the UP Centennial Lecture Series to commemorate the 100th-year foundation of the State University this year.
Of neoconservatives and neoliberals: U.S. foreign policy in post-Bush America
THAT the eight-year presidency of George W. Bush is finally coming to an end may be comforting a thought to many in light of elections in the United States to choose a new president this coming November. But the choices of American voters, having since been narrowed down to John McCain, the Republican Party nominee, and Barack Obama, the Democratic Party nominee, are hardly offering the rest of the world much hope in terms of any fundamental change in U.S. foreign policy.
NBN-ZTE
SCANDAL
Lacaba: Keep the NBN-ZTE issue alive
FOR poet and YES! magazine executive editor Jose ‘Pete’ Lacaba, the national broadband network (NBN) scandal had reached an early saturation point. Thus, he stresses that while no Senate hearing currently air, it is important to “keep the issues alive.”
SEE
ALSO:
SPRATLYS DEAL
Selling out Philippine sovereignty?
IF the tripartite agreement entered into by the Philippines with China and Vietnam to conduct a joint marine seismic undertaking (JMSU) in the disputed territories of the Spratly Islands is currently mired in controversy, the Arroyo government has only itself to blame.
SEE
ALSO:
MORE AT
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Podcasting from the Philippines
A MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION
READ THE i REPORT ARTICLES.
LISTEN
TO THE PODCASTS:
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Newsbreak, PCIJ stories win in 2008 JVO awards
IN-DEPTH stories on governance and corruption, human rights, and environment won in the 19th Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ) held yesterday at the Asian Institute of Management.
Roel Landingin’s “The Battle for Manila’s Gateway,” published in the September to December 2007 issue of Newsbreak, was named best in investigative and explanatory reporting. The story examined the account of events surrounding the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) 3 - Philippine International Air Terminal Co. (PIATCO) controversy.
Another Newsbreak story, “Trapped in a Web of Lives” by Glenda Gloria, published last December 2007 to February 2008, also won the grand prize. It was cited as “a comprehensive, well-researched and compelling story” on the disappearance of Jonas Burgos, which emphasized the need to address the problem of human rights violation.
Landingin, also a fellow of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and Gloria both received plaques of distinction, P70,000 cash prize each, and the Australian Ambassador’s Award from the Australian Embassy and the Marshall McLuhan Prize from the Canadian Embassy, respectively.
Another PCIJ fellow, Prime Sarmiento, also received a citation for her story “What’s Swimming In Your Soup?” which delved into the country’s continuing lack of proper drainage systems. She received a plaque of merit and a cash prize of P25,000.
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PCIJ
Training Schedule
BELOW is the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism's
(PCIJ) training schedule for the second half of 2008:
- August 4-7
— Investigative Journalism for Visayas Journalists
- October
— Investigative Journalism for Journalism Educators
The courses are by-invitation only. But if you wish to be
considered for future PCIJ trainings, kindly email
us your brief resumé and sample stories. |
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News for Sale
THIS book probes how corruption and commerce (or the pressure
to rate or sell) have shaped media coverage of what is supposed
to be the pivotal event in our democracy — elections. In a
continuation of her groundbreaking-exposé on the ways in which
journalism is corrupted by bribes and other inducements, Chay
Florentino-Hofileña examines the new forms of media corruption
that have emerged in the 2004 elections.
The Rulemakers
THIS book tells the story of the Philippine legislature by
examining the men and women who make up that body. It looks
at their demographic characteristics (age, gender, education,
profession), their assets and sources of wealth, and also
their family lineage.
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