Recent post at Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism - Blog

• Brokedown mines
  Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:26:03 +0000
  WHEN mines shut down, they don?t just fade away like old soldiers. They fester and fall apart once their owners walk away. That?s what seems to have been happening to the mines that have closed one after the other across the country in the last several decades, for reasons ranging from diminished returns to disasters. [...]
  
  
• When will ?turning point? in labor migration come for RP?
  Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:33:41 +0000
  THERE is no better time to celebrate family gatherings than during the holidays. In the Philippines, it is the most opportune occasion for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to come home and reunite with loved ones. A family with one or even two members away for work during most of the year has been common among Filipinos [...]
  
  
• The Canadian quandary
  Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:52:48 +0000
  OUR latest story by PCIJ Fellows Isa Lorenzo (from the Philippines) and Philip Ney (from Canada) looks at the mixed record of good and bad business practices by mining firms from Canada, the world?s largest exporter of metals and minerals. In 2004 alone, the Canadian extractive sector invested 26.6 billion Canadian dollars (about $22 billion) overseas. [...]
  
  
• Footwear as art form
  Sun, 21 Dec 2008 08:12:52 +0000
  THERE are high-heeled boots, classic stiletto shoes, low-heeled office wears, rugged sandals and trendy flip-flops. There are quirky designs, such as a pair with holes all over, or one with eyes and nose, like a snake’s. Some are slim and pointy, some are bulky and clunky. But none of the 184 pairs of shoes could be [...]
  
  
• Filipinos in Barack?s America
  Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:09:27 +0000
  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. Published by Anvil, the book talks about Barack Obama?s march to the American presidency and how Filipinos responded to it. It also tells the story of the Filipino journey in the United States, how [...]
  
  



• Pride March 2008, Manila
  Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:37:47 +0000
  (This post was written by Maybelline Torres, Romnick Alejo, and Erica Ann Francisco, senior journalism students from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. They are currently taking internship credits with the PCIJ.) CLAD in dresses inspired by the colors of the rainbow, various groups from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community came together in [...]
  
  
• MCC: No grant assistance forthcoming until Arroyo gov?t shows it can curb corruption
  Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:18:19 +0000
  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.” Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her retinue of spokespersons, particularly in the last couple of years, would instead offer the public what it considers a more “accurate” [...]
  
  
• Human rights in the Philippines: Still a ?work in progress?
  Sat, 13 Dec 2008 05:19:04 +0000
  THE protection of one?s rights is deemed universal, cutting across social strata, guaranteed to everyone, everywhere, at all times. In many parts of the world, however, realities indicate that such universality of social justice has yet to be achieved. Here in the Philippines, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) last Wednesday [...]
  
  
• Budget buster
  Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:45:23 +0000
  THE Senate Blue Ribbon Committee?s current probe on the 2004 alleged fertilizer fund diversification is supposed to be in aid of legislation, but it seems it?s the opposition in the lower chamber that has come up with a related bill. According to Deputy Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona III, House Bill No. 5580 could be the first [...]
  
  
• Bangkok blues
  Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:47:02 +0000
  THE Land of Smiles has been wearing a worried frown in the last few months, and it?s not because it?s starting to feel the economic pinch like the rest of the world. Rather, anti-government protests have plagued Thailand since December last year, after polls saw the return to power of populist former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. [...]