Philippines President tests positive for Covid-19 for third time
MANILA: President of the Philippines Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will need to undergo five-day isolation after catching coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). “President Bongbong Marcos has tested positive for Covid-19. Upon medical advice, he will observe a period of isolation for five days,” the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said in a statement carried by the Philippines […]
Marcos stresses Philippines’ commitment to addressing climate change effects
MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has used his annual State of the Union speech to emphasize his administration’s commitment to climate change as an important criterion in the country’s integral national policies, planning, and decision-making. “The building blocks of progressive, livable and sustainable communities will never be complete without appropriate and responsible action to […]
Reflections on Philippine elections
By Alin Ferrer-Garganera, Public service media practitioner Radio anchor/ broadcaster MANILA: We just concluded the national elections in the Philippines on May 9, 2022, and the results are in. To say it was shocking to many would be an understatement. Twelve new senators have been proclaimed. Almost 90% of the House of Representatives have also […]
Fact checking and media self-regulation
Text of the speech delivered by Alin Ferrer-Garganera at the World Journalists Conference (WJC 2022) “Thank you for inviting me to make a sharing in this conference. I hope to make a contribution by answering the following questions. Why is fact-checking important? Why should we self-regulate as media? Then I will share some fact-checking initiatives […]
Election as social contract
By Rosalin Ferrer-Garganera ‘On Target Media Concept’ reporter, Radio anchor/ broadcaster Philippines MANILA: Election fever is gripping the Philippines now. With less than a month to go when an estimated 67.5 million Filipinos will troop to election precincts and choose our next political leaders. Actually, about 1.7 million Filipinos who are outside of the Philippines […]
Climate crisis is here – Lessons not learned
Surigao City in Mindanao, Philippines was one of the areas devastated by Typhoon Rai, locally known in the Philippines as “Odette”. (Photo: Philippine Coast Guard, Public domain). By Crispin Maslog MANILA: Exactly ten years ago in January 2012, as a retired science journalism professor, I wrote my first column for SciDev.Net. It was about the […]
Truth to power
By Alin Ferrer-Garganera MANILA: Maria Ressa won the Nobel Peace Prize on Oct. 8, 2021. This is quite significant for many Filipinos. It is the first time the Nobel Peace Prize is directly awarded to a Filipino recipient. And the first who was able to do it was a woman! Finally, she is the only […]
Real Choices?
By Alin Ferrer-Garganera MANILA: Last Oct. 8, 2021, presidential aspirants here in the Philippines lined up to file their certificates of candidacy for the 2022 national elections. It was a week-long spectacle, with dozens proclaiming their intent to run as President and Vice-President and hundreds more want to become Senators. Most we’re serious candidates, while […]
2 provinces, 2 cities, 22 towns named after Philippine former presidents
Manila: Two of the 145 cities in the Philippines, 22 towns out of a total of 1,489 and two of the country’s 81 provinces have been named in honor of seven former presidents. The presidents are Emilio F. Aguinaldo (1898-1901), Manuel L. Quezon (1935-1944), Jose P. Laurel (1943-1945), Manuel A. Roxas (1946-1948), Elpidio R. Quirino […]
In Leyte, Philippines, bikes used to boost school attendance
Tacloban City: Needy students from three high schools in the Philippines have been offered bikes to motivate them to cover the distance from their remote homes to classes. The 115 bikes were donated in Leyte, the archipelago’s seventh largest island, under a project that aims to address school dropout, the Philippine News Agency (PNA) […]