Category: Videocasts

SULYAP: PCIJ and campaign finance

Ed Lingao Leave a comment

THE PHILIPPINE Center for Investigative Journalism has always had a fixation with the issue of campaign finance – the relationships between political candidates and their donors or contributors, and how these relationships help define the behavior of politicians in office.

Campaign finance has unfortunately not always been a sexy peg for most mainstream news outfits. Elections have always been more of a horse race in this country, and more attention is often given by the local news on the bickering and fighting among candidates, as well as who won or lost in the polls.

The PCIJ is proud of the fact that in the last two elections, more and more stories in the mainstream news are being devoted to campaign finance issues. These issues include how much candidates spend in their campaigns, as well as the financial and political interests of those who contribute to their campaign kitties. In the last elections, the PCIJ held seminars on campaign finance, not just for national and local journalists, but even for employees and officials of the Commission on Elections.

Today’s Sulyap was produced by PCIJ Multimedia Producer Cong B. Corrales.

SULYAP: Investigating Erap

Ed Lingao Leave a comment

HE WAS SWEPT into power by an overwhelming populist vote, yet Joseph Ejercito Estrada, the 13th President of the Republic, proved to be much more than just any ordinary citizen.

Beginning July 2000, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism published a series of reports on the unexplained wealth of Estrada, his many loves, and his love for many mansions. The reports exposed the President’s lavish lifestyle, and the many business and financial involvements of Estrada and his many families.

Four articles of impeachment were filed against Estrada, three of which were based on PCIJ reports. In November of that same year, Estrada was impeached by the House of Representatives. Two months later, Estrada would be forced from office, and arrested and convicted for plunder.

Today’s Sulyap is a look back at the Estrada investigation, and how the PCIJ stories helped inform the public’s mind on the issues of unexplained wealth and conflicts of interest. This video short was produced and edited by PCIJ Multimedia Producer Julius D. Mariveles.

 

SULYAP: Investigating Erap

Ed Lingao Leave a comment

HE WAS SWEPT into power by an overwhelming populist vote, yet Joseph Ejercito Estrada, the 13th President of the Republic, proved to be much more than just any ordinary citizen.

Beginning July 2000, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism published a series of reports on the unexplained wealth of Estrada, his many loves, and his love for many mansions. The reports exposed the President’s lavish lifestyle, and the many business and financial involvements of Estrada and his many families.

Four articles of impeachment were filed against Estrada, three of which were based on PCIJ reports. In November of that same year, Estrada was impeached by the House of Representatives. Two months later, Estrada would be forced from office, and arrested and convicted for plunder.

Today’s Sulyap is a look back at the Estrada investigation, and how the PCIJ stories helped inform the public’s mind on the issues of unexplained wealth and conflicts of interest. This video short was produced and edited by PCIJ Multimedia Producer Julius D. Mariveles.

 

SULYAP: Covering women’s issues

Ed Lingao Leave a comment

FOR SO LONG, journalism was heavily dominated by the men; while the women seemed to have greater facility for language and discipline for detail, the men proved overly protective of what they considered a man’s turf.

The drawing of such artificial gender lines also tended to affect the way stories were covered. Stories on women were often drawn along specific stereotypes, either as helpless victims in need of heroic males, or as objects of pleasure and entertainment.

Since it was founded 25 years ago, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism has sought to break these stereotypes. Long before Women’s Desks were created in the police force, the PCIJ already had its own Women’s Desk, where gender issues were fleshed out and given context. This way, women and children were not presented as perpetual victims in need of a knight in armor.

This is because the PCIJ believes that men and women are not just to be viewed as separate genders, but as people with their own vulnerabilities, potentials, and their own roles to play in society.

Today’s Sulyap was edited and produced by PCIJ’s Multimedia Producer Julius Mariveles.

SULYAP: PCIJ and FOI

Ed Lingao Leave a comment

IT MAY SEEM strange to some that the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, an organization of independent journalists, is involved in certain advocacies.

The PCIJ is active in movements that promote press freedom, human rights, democracy, good governance, and a few other advocacies that are universally accepted as necessary for democracy. The Center’s involvement in these advocacies is because of the belief that while the press needs to remain fair and impartial, it can only do so in a community that is democratic and free.

One such advocacy is the push for the passage of the Freedom of Information bill, a measure that has slumbered in Congress for more than two decades. This video short was produced and edited by PCIJ Multimedia Producer Cong B. Corrales.