Stories.

IT’S election campaign season again and candidates have started to harangue voters with a barrage of promises of reforms. When he came to power in June 2010, President Benigno…

THE Open Budget Survey 2012 bears bad news about budget transparency in the Philippines, but the story seems more upbeat in the areas of budget oversight and public participation.

PARANG humihila ng bayawak sa lungga. (It’s like pulling a monitor lizard out of a pit.) This, according to former Senator Rene A.V. Saguisag, is how the Supreme Court has behaved…

IN PCIJ’s analysis, the biggest obstacles to achieving full transparency in the high court seem to be its top two officials: Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes P. A. Sereno and Associate…

EXACTLY A year ago today, on Dec. 12, 2011, President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III marshaled votes from his Liberal Party and coalition allies in the House of Representatives to…

FOUR months of research, more than two dozen requests, and at least half a gigabyte of documents. That was what it took to produce this four-part series on the Statements of…

MANY PUBLIC officials like to say that accepting a government post is like taking a vow of poverty, given the supposedly paltry pay in government service. What officials neglect to…

WHEN Congress impeached then Chief Justice Renato C. Corona on December 12, 2011 because he had allegedly filed an intentionally flawed Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net…

GOVERNMENT-SPEAK is bewildering enough for the layman, but when talks turn to money received by public servants, things can get even more confusing. To help taxpayers understand…

HOW much do taxpayers pay officials for their services in government? Except for general and lump figures provided in budget documents and relevant laws, little had been known…

IF ANDAL AMPATUAN SR. and his sons ruled Maguindanao as if they owned the province, perhaps it was because they really owned a sizeable chunk of it — and parts of Cotabato, Sultan…

MARY GRACE MORALES lost two loved ones in the Maguindanao Massacre of Nov.23, 2009 — her husband Rosell, a reporter for News Focus, and her sister Marites Cablitas, a reporter of…

ON JUNE 6, 2011, a year and a half after the Maguindanao Massacre claimed the lives of 58 people, including 32 journalists, the Court of Appeals ordered the freezing of all the…

ARNEL CORTEZ MANALOTO, the lawyer of Andal Ampatuan Jr. who purchased eight of his properties in Davao City, is actually a young, recently married trial lawyer based in Angeles…

FREEDOM of expression (FOE) and freedom of information (FOI) are closely intertwined, fundamental rights of the people, not just in the Philippines but also in all democracies of…

At least 11 bills related to cybercrime prevention were filed before the House of Representatives in the 15th Congress. These were authored by Tarlac Rep. Susan A. Yap, Ilocos Sur…

In the 13th Congress (2004-2007), at least four measures were filed to regulate and penalize cybercrime: House Bills No. 1246, 2093, 2528 and 3777, which were authored by…

THREE MONTHS after Renato C. Corona was impeached as chief justice for his failure to declare and disclose the full and true details of his wealth, the justices of the Supreme…

IT impeached and prosecuted then Chief Justice Renato C. Corona for his failure to declare full and truthful details of his wealth in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net…

THE FIRST WOMAN chief justice of the Supreme Court, Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno, will have 18 years to roll our reforms in the judiciary, or nearly as long as the regime in power of…

PRESIDENT Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III said it best when he declared dissatisfaction over the short list of chief justice candidates that was handed to him by the Judicial and Bar…