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OUR
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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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.
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Have patent rights prevailed over public health?
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IT WON’T be over even after the lady signs. And even after she signs it, the fight for popular access to affordable medicines won’t be over.
All that the cheaper medicines bill needs to be enacted into law is the signature of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. But some legal experts lament that as enrolled, the bill passed by Congress bears “imperfections” that effectively affirm the patent rights of big pharmaceutical companies over public health, a major hurdle to bringing down drug prices.
SEE
ALSO:
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WHEN POLITICS POLLUTES CIVIL SERVICE
New CSC Chief Faces Pack of Ineligible Bureaucrats
by
Isa Lorenzo and Malou Mangahas THIS
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.
Too Many Buses, Too Many Agencies Clog Edsa
by
Margaret Jao-Grey
THE
continued clogging of Edsa is blamed on the huge volume of buses
that are often just half-full. While private vehicles outnumber
buses, the lack of discipline of bus drivers has made them target
for regulation. But therein lies another reason for the gridlock:
the various agencies with varying rules in an attempt to decongest
Edsa, and the creative ways by which bus companies are able to violate
these rules.
Arroyo's Legacy May Include More Mothers Put at Risk
by
Jaileen F. Jimeno
UNDER
the Arroyo administration, the responsibility of providing artificial
contraceptives has been tossed to cash-strapped local governments,
leaving many women without the means to protect themselves from
unsafe pregnancies.
Spate of Attacks Alarms Local Indian Community
by
Avigail M. Olarte
THE
Indian community is increasingly becoming a target of crimes, from
holdups to kidnappings and even killings.
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Online
Edition
2015 OR BUST?
Whither the MDGs?
by
Leonor Magtolis Briones
The midterm progress report on the Millennium Development Goals finds the country doing fairly well in terms of meeting most of the targets, but the government also admits there are some sore spots that need to be looked at and addressed. The picture, however, becomes even less rosy when the national figures are broken down to local levels.
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 Planning 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:
CROSSBORDER
Perils of the Press
by
Joseph Israel M. Laban
They are part of the world’s youngest democracy, but members of
East Timor’s media now know that does not guarantee the full freedom
to do their job.
The Price of Peace
by
Joseph Israel M. Laban
Many ordinary East Timorese are pessimistic about what the final report
of the Commission on Truth and Friendship may contain, partly because
throughout Southeast Asia, victims of large-scale atrocities committed
or ordered by those in power rarely (if at all) obtain justice.
THE
ESTRADA TRIAL
Guilty! But Special Concessions for Accused Show Flawed System
by
Karen Tiongson-Mayrina
NOW that the Sandiganbayan has declared former President Joseph Estrada
guilty of plunder but acquitted him of perjury charges, the PCIJ looks
back at the trial that lasted six long years.
OTHER
FEATURES:
PREVIOUS
ISSUES
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Philippines, other democracies failing to solve journalists' murders
TWO days ahead of World Press Freedom Day commemoration on May 3, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released its first Impunity Index that lists democracies from Colombia to India and Russia to the Philippines among the worst countries in the world at prosecuting journalists’ killers.
SEE
ALSO:
U.S. military presence strongest in Mindanao
THE Focus on the Global South recently released a map showing what it calls “the true scale and extent of U.S. military presence” in the country today.
Alternative
planting method key to rice self-sufficiency
EVEN as the government continues to insist that there is no rice
supply shortage but only an abnormal increase in the price of
the staple owing to soaring world market prices of commodities,
the fact is the country is not 100-percent self-sufficient in
rice.
Ombudsman: Charge Nani Perez on $2-M 'kickback'
IN 2001, it took then justice secretary Hernando B. Perez only two days to come out with a legal opinion endorsing a $470-million hydroelectric power contract that was awarded to the Argentine firm IMPSA (Industrias Metalurgicas Pescarmona Sociedad Anonima).
A closer look at the 2008 PERC survey
ALMOST two weeks ago, the Philippines earned the dubious distinction of being the worst rated country in terms of perceived corruption for two consecutive years based on the annual survey conducted by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC).
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:
NBN-ZTE
SCANDAL
Right to information and government's 'hangover of secrecy'
THE current pattern of concealments among public officials has been a clear sign of the Arroyo administration’s “institutional turn to secrecy,” according to transparency, accountability, and good legislation advocates.
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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Important announcement from PCIJ
IT is always wonderful to be the bearer of good news. So here it is:
Beginning today, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
will have a new executive director in the person of Malou C. Mangahas,
a veteran journalist who has had a distinguished career in newspapers,
television and the Web.
There is no better person to be at the helm of the PCIJ at this time, when the country is roiling from yet another political crisis and needs the kind of reporting for which the PCIJ has been known: probing, unflinching, nonpartisan.
Malou will preside over the next phase of the PCIJ’s life, when the Center is transitioning to multimedia and Web journalism, and striving to meet the twin challenges of doing watchdog reporting under a more restrictive political environment and of sustaining groundbreaking journalism based on a nonprofit business model.
The PCIJ is privileged to have Malou on the driver’s seat. She brings to the job an intimate knowledge of how the Center works, as she was one of the founders of the PCIJ in 1989 and served as its training director from 1990 to 1993. Malou has also served on the PCIJ’s board since its birth.
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PCIJ
Training Schedule
BELOW is the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism's
(PCIJ) training schedule for the first half of 2008:
- January
21-24 — Reporting on the MDGs for Northern and Central Luzon
Journalists
- February
— Investigative Journalism for Visayas Journalists
- April
— Investigative Journalism for Luzon Journalism Educators
- May
— Investigative Journalism for Visayas and Mindanao 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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"Hello, Garci?" Jokebook
Filipinos like to think that they can laugh at anything, and
however much they put themselves down, they believe that their
sense of humor is not only a defining national trait but also
their saving grace. This book is a collection of contemporary
political humor and is made up largely of jokes forwarded
from one cellphone to another. Also included in the collection
is a sampling of political humor from websites and blogs.
Price: P190
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.
PCIJ Guide to Government
THE PCIJ recently released its latest book, PCIJ Guide to
Government. Written by veteran journalists, the book provides
a basic backgrounder that explains the powers and functions
of various officials and agencies, including the presidency,
the legislature, and the courts. It is intended to be a road
map, a manual, a guidebook to those who wish to understand
how various branches and agencies of government work.
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