Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exposed the country’s dependence on food imports. Vietnam, the country’s top supplier of rice, has also shown a decline in production.

The country’s economic recovery is at stake in the May polls. The next president will need to create jobs and help businesses and industries.

The COVID-19 pandemic is not over. If a new variant threatens another surge, there are better ways to respond than ordering another lockdown.

2003 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee and PCIJ founding executive director Sheila Coronel delivered this lecture, Marcos and Memory: The Past in Our Future, on Feb. 26, 2022 for the 2022 Adrian Cristobal Lecture Series.

At least 70 of 177 party-list groups accredited by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the May 2022 elections have nominees who are connected to political clans or incumbent local or national elected officials, research by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) showed.

Among them are a former senator and many district and party-list representatives, governors, vice governors, provincial board members, mayors, vice mayors, and councilors.

Spouses, siblings, and children of politicians are running, too.

On the anniversary of the 1986 EDSA People Power revolution on Feb. 25, allies of Bongbong Marcos mocked the historic event and declared victory in the May 2022 polls. If Marcos wins, who is to say if EDSA will be celebrated at all in the future? But Leni Robredo and her supporters were defiant. "This is not the last EDSA. We will fight for the people," read a placard in the Iloilo crowd. Her campaign has turned into a crusade.

Candidates in the 2022 elections are talking about the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth or SALN. Why is it important? And why is access to these documents getting harder? In this podcast, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism executive director Carmela Fonbuena, editorial content head Karol Ilagan, reporter Elyssa Lopez, and researcher Martha Teodoro explain why it is an important anti-corruption tool.

This podcast is produced by Carmela Fonbuena and Charles Salazar. Music credit: Jazz Mango by Joey Pecoraro

Ang pangangampanya para sa halalan, laging nangangailangan ng pera.

Magkano ang ginagastos ng mga kandidato sa kanilang pagtakbo? Sino ang nagpopondo ng kanilang kampanya, at paano ito makakaapekto sa kanilang magiging mga desisyon kapag naupo na sila sa puwesto? Iilan lang ito sa mga tanong na kailangang sagutin para maintindihan ang kahalagahan ng campaign finance.

Producers: Cherry Salazar, Charles Salazar

Music credit: The Sound of a Dollar by DJ Williams

Illustration: Luigi Almuena

In the third and final episode of the Digital Sex Crimes in Asia podcast series, four journalists and a filmmaker share insights and their own experiences during and after their coverage of image-based abuse and the online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC).

This podcast series is produced in collaboration with ABS-CBN and supported by the Judith Neilson Institute’s Asian Stories project. It is part of a multi-platform reportage on OSEC, which also includes a four-part investigative report published on the PCIJ website and an hour-long documentary on the ABS-CBN News Channel.

The online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) does not end with the rescue of victims, or the litigation and sentencing of perpetrators. The impact of OSEC to its victims stretches for life.

In the second episode of the Digital Sex Crimes in Asia series, we will hear from an OSEC survivor herself as well as child’s rights advocates.

Parts of this episode are graphic and may be triggering to some listeners. Discretion is highly advised.

This podcast series is produced in collaboration with ABS-CBN, in support by the Judith Neilson Institute’s Asian Stories project.

The interviews were conducted by Cherry Salazar of PCIJ, who also wrote this episode, with transcription assistance from Alexis Guevara and Daniella Paulino. The cover art was made by Alexandra Paredes.

If you want to learn more about the extent of OSEC and the efforts being done to curb it, you may check PCIJ’s website, pcij.org, for our complementary multi-part investigative report.

The ABS-CBN News Channel will also premiere a documentary on OSEC.