May you and your loved ones enjoy the true blessings of the Season: peace and justice, love and good health.
Category: Specials
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16 years on, the Maguindanao massacre continues to provide lessons to campus journalists
PILI, CAMARINES SUR—Journalism student Jevan Dex Miranda was a child when the inconceivable happened: bodies unearthed by a backhoe, families grieving while searching for their loved ones, and headlines marking the Philippines as the setting of the deadliest single attack on journalists in world history. Miranda was among the students, human rights advocates and media...
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Here are 5 ways to detect pro-China propaganda
Last March, several prominent pro-Duterte vloggers and influencers admitted in a congressional hearing that they had attended a China-funded training seminar in 2023. Former presidential communications secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles confirmed that she and bloggers Mark Lopez, Tio Moreno, Philstar.com columnist Pia Morato, and lawyer Ahmed Paglinawan took part in a two-week program in Beijing run...
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Postscript: How we covered the Ali-Frazier ‘Thrilla in Manila’
(Last of three parts) In the predigital age of media, the printed word was king, and newspapers ruled. If an event wasn’t in the papers, it never happened. In the mid-1970s, newsrooms were shifting from “hot metal” to “cold type”—from molten lead and oily typesetting machines to early computers, photo-typesetting, and paste-up. For many, that...
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It was every bit the promised ‘Thrilla in Manila’—and more
(Second of three parts) This oft-quoted line from Dick Young of the New York Daily News has not lost its shine 50 years after Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier fought each other nearly to the death in probably the most brutal—and greatest—boxing match in history. Young was among the sportswriting gods who descended on the...
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Barefoot and larger than life: My (un)forgettable exclusive with Muhammad Ali
(First of three parts) The elevator door opened to the ninth floor of what was then the Manila Hilton, which the then world heavyweight champion would call home for a fortnight before what he himself christened the “Thrilla in Manila.” Photographer Eddie Alfonso and I were startled to see a bemoustached man waiting at the...
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Rising seas, rising hopes: Why the Philippines can lead in green energy
Every year, Filipinos brace for typhoons. The seas are creeping ever closer to our shores, drought constantly threatens our farms, and heat waves are stretching our health systems. The Philippines has been called “ground zero” for climate change, and for good reason: It ranks among the most climate-vulnerable nations in the world. At first glance,...
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When AI goes berserk, be prepared to die
On July 4, 2005, I died a violent death. Then, in 2018, I died again, this time of natural causes. In both cases, my obituaries were written. Yet here I am today, still alive but close to dying, a centenarian tycoon quietly admiring my art and watching my kids run the empire I built. How...
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All the presidents’ contractors: For 20 years, Malacañang has been unable or unwilling to stop corruption in public works
For the past two decades, across four presidential terms, the same contractors have been awarded the largest public works contracts. Whether the president is a Marcos, a Duterte, an Aquino, or an Arroyo, many politically-connected firms have outbid all others, cornering a disproportionate chunk of lucrative public works projects funded from the people’s taxes. Through...
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Five reveals from the flood control data
Between July 2022 and May 2025, the first three years of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s presidency, the government funded 9,855 flood control projects worth over ₱545 billion. We analyzed those projects and the companies that got the contracts to build them. Massive flooding in recent months have put these projects in the harsh glare of public...