Data
River dredging has replaced sand mining but Chinese firms are still involved and coastal communities are still hurting
Local fishing communities across the country’s western seaboard—from the far north in Cagayan to the Ilocos provinces to Zambales and the Mindoro provinces have been rising up in…
By Rizza Camingawan·June 16, 2026
Energy Transition
High power bills? Filipinos can have cheaper energy if Manila can drill in Recto Bank despite China row
Recto Bank, an underwater reef in the West Philippine Sea, remains an enigma. Little is publicly disclosed about it beyond its geology, oil and gas potential, and the decades-long…
By Leilani Chavez·January 18, 2026
Congress
Rewriting Reality: The Information War That Defined 2025
There were nearly no slow news days in 2025. The year was a high-pressure firehose of events that left the public scavenging for information. High news demand provided the perfect…
By Nikko Balbedina, Regine Cabato, Gian Libot & Cristina Chi Edited by Felipe F. Salvosa IICo-published with PressOne.ph·December 31, 2025
Data
Chinese vessels are in coastal areas near disputed waters. Are they just transporting dredged sand or threatening national security?
As the flood-control corruption scandal continues to unfold, a parallel story is taking shape along the country’s shorelines. A subsidiary of the state-owned China Communications…
By Rizza Camingawan·December 2, 2025
Disinformation
Have you come across pro-China propaganda? Here are 5 ways to find out.
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…
By Regine Cabato·October 29, 2025
Latest
The unprecedented trials of Beijing’s suspected spies in the Philippines
Thirteen Chinese nationals arrested on suspicion of espionage were charged under an 80-year-old World War II-era law. Philippine lawmakers are now scrambling to update national…
By Carmela Fonbuena·October 5, 2025
Elections
In Cagayan, a frontline province in West PH Sea dispute, agriculture is the top concern
The dispute over the West Philippine Sea is a national issue more than a local one. 'Iisipin mo ba ang EDCA kung ang important ay maghanap ng makakain mo araw-araw?'
By Michael John Lester T Ruiz·February 2, 2025
Elections
Eyes on May 2025 Philippine elections as China flexes muscles in West PH Sea
A drive down Cagayan’s main thoroughfare from the capital of Tuguegarao to Sta. Ana town takes hours, but the trip offers refreshing vistas of rice and corn fields – and a view of…
By Tj Burgonio·January 31, 2025
Latest
Carpio to journalists: ‘The root cause of SCS dispute is China’s invasion. Write that.’
Journalists reporting on the conflict in the South China Sea should always focus on its “root cause,’’ retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Renato Carpio told a…
By Philippine Center For Investigative Journalism·April 30, 2024
Disinformation
Philippines confronts unlikely adversary in SCS row: Filipinos echoing ‘pro-Beijing’ narratives
There's a small but vocal group of Filipinos echoing pro-Beijing narratives. Security officials fear that the public, who like to use social media and have shown vulnerability to…
By Camille Elemia·October 23, 2023
