It was a show of interoperability, that favorite word. Simply put, it is the ability to work together seamlessly in fields like maritime law enforcement, search-and-rescue operations, and humanitarian and disaster relief assistance.

Kaagapay, with videos and photos of the ships gleaming in the merciless sun and uniformed men and women of three nations simulating scenarios, was a highly visible demonstration of how a trilateral alliance works, surging the momentum in maritime cooperation.

Many of us may not be aware but a number of tripartite defense activities had already taken place. Kaagapay is the latest and most heralded.

In October 2019, two back-to-back exercises were held, without fanfare, in the Philippines. First, the navies of the three countries conducted sea and shore drills off Palawan. While it was the third iteration of Sama Sama, a maritime exercise “to promote regional security cooperation, strengthen maritime partnerships, and enhance maritime interoperability,” it was the first time for Japan to participate, which sent a team from its Maritime Self Defense Force.

What followed was an amphibious exercise of the Philippine Marine Corps, Japan’s Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF), and the US Marines called KAMANDAG. It is the acronym for Kaagapay Ng Mga Mandirigma Ng Dagat (Cooperation of Warriors of the Sea).

At the time, the Philippine Marine Corps  launched their assault amphibious vehicles (AAVs) for the first time alongside US and JGSDF AAVs for a “multilateral amphibious landing.” KAMANDAG was designed, among others, to enhance partnership and smoothen interoperability between the Philippine, Japanese and US forces.

Quiet and quick

It appears that the pandemic halted the trilateral exercises. It was only in September 2022 when things started to pick up. Quietly, the first Japan-Philippines-US trilateral defense policy dialogue was convened. It was a virtual event attended by mid-level officials from the defense departments of the three countries.

A statement from Japan’s Ministry of Defense said they exchanged views on maritime security challenges with an “emphasis on the importance of upholding freedom of navigation.” The three officials also discussed possible areas of cooperation in maritime security, cyber security, information sharing, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

The Japanese delegation was led by Jun Miura, director general for international affairs of its Bureau of Defense Policy. Marita Yoro, director of the Office for Strategic Assessments and International Affairs of the defense department, headed the Philippine participants. The US delegation was led by Lindsey Ford, deputy assistant secretary of defense.

A few months later, in December, as travel restrictions eased, the chiefs of the land forces gathered in Japan for their inaugural meeting:  JGSDF Chief of Staff Gen. Yoshida Yoshihide, US Army Pacific Commanding General Gen. Charles Flynn, US Marine Corps Forces Commander Lt. Gen. William Jurney, Philippine Army Commanding General Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., and Philippine Marine Corps Commandant Maj. Gen. Charlton Sean Gaerlan. They exchanged views on cooperation of land forces “to deter unilateral attempts to change the status quo.” 

Their next meeting took place last April, after the conclusion of the Balikatan in Manila. This time, three of the ground forces chiefs met—Gaerlan, Jurney and Maj. Gen. Shirakawa Norimichi, director general of policy and programs, JGSDF—to talk about future cooperation including “sharing best practices in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; crisis response planning; and force modernization efforts.” 

‘No other option’

The public rhetoric came later. These activities happened ahead of Marcos’s and Biden’s statements about establishing trilateral modes of cooperation with Japan during the Philippine president’s visit to Washington in May. Earlier, after Marcos met Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo in February, Marcos talked about a trilateral defense agreement with the US and Japan.

I asked Kunihiko Miyake of the Canon Global Institute for Global Studies, a think tank, where these trilateral arrangements are headed for. Do they an alliance make?

“The objective is not the alliance. The alliance is the result of the need to cope with the new geopolitical environment surrounding East Asia,” he told me over a lunch interview in Tokyo, discussing how the East China Sea and the South China Sea are becoming Chinese seas. “There is no other option. No single country can do it alone. Like-minded countries should get together.”

The various forms of security cooperation among the three countries are part of shoring up deterrence, said Miyake, to “send the right message to China, that they will lose more than they gain.”

Japan, which has had a strong history of pacifism, has realized that they have to be strong to defend themselves. After all, as Miyake put it, an “alliance helps those who help themselves.” – Rappler.com

A seismic shift has been taking place in Japan’s security landscape – and the Philippines is feeling the waves, garnering a number of firsts in Manila-Tokyo relations.

Since Japan’s National Security Council was established in 2013, it gradually shaped the country’s new strategy, moving it away from pacifism to preparing for external threats by building deterrence. Some call it “pragmatic pacifism.” 

The result of the Council’s work were three documents released in December 2022: the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy, and the Defense Buildup Program. China’s aggression near the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands and in the South China Sea was a driving force in this change.

Michishita Narushige, professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies or GRIPS in Tokyo, said in a forum that what’s new in Japan’s national security strategy is that Japan has committed to be “strong enough, exactly what it is doing, in order to provide credible deterrence to prevent war.” He referred to two potential flashpoints, the Taiwan Strait and Korean Peninsula.

As Japan’s new security strategy was nearing completion last year, the Philippines held its first two-plus-two talks in Tokyo: then-defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. met with their counterparts, Nobuo Kishi and Yoshimasa Hayashi, in April 2022 to discuss expanding defense cooperation. In a joint statement, they agreed to “facilitate reciprocal visits as well as reciprocal provision of supplies and services in order to further enhance cooperation such as exercises between Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.”

RAA or VFA?

A likely arrangement between the Philippine military and the Japan Self Defense Forces (JSDF) could be in the form of a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), which lays down the rules of engagement, including procedures for joint exercises conducted by the armed forces of one country while visiting the other country, port calls of vessels and the status of the visiting force – which covers adherence to the laws of the host country. The RAA is similar to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) of the Philippines and the US and the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) of the Philippines and Australia.

For its part, Japan has sealed RAAs with two countries, the UK and Australia, while it has a Status of Forces Agreement with the US. If the Philippines and Japan finalize an RAA or VFA, it will be Japan’s first with an Asian country.

Formal negotiations for an RAA between Manila and Tokyo have not yet started, Japan’s ambassador to the Philippines, Kazuhiko Koshikawa, said although the two countries are preparing for preliminary talks.

A number of firsts

Apart from the first two-plus-two talks last year, Manila and Tokyo notched up a few other firsts:

• The Philippines is one of the first countries to receive Official Security Assistance (OSA) from Japan, the guidelines of which were unveiled in April 2023. This is a departure from Japan’s purely ODA (Official Development Assistance) approach and is meant to strengthen the military capabilities of friendly countries.  The OSA includes provision of equipment and supplies to beef up monitoring and surveillance in maritime areas and airspace, peacekeeping operations, and humanitarian activities.
• Two Japanese fighter jets (F-15) landed in the former Clark Air Base in December 2022 as part of the defense cooperation between the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and the Philippine Air Force. The visit of the Japanese fighter jets was the first to the Philippines since World War II. 
• The Philippine Army joined the Japan-US command post exercise, Yama Sakura, as observers, another first in military annals. The Yama Sakura, an annual exercise between the Japan Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) and US Army Pacific, was held in Camp Asaka in Japan in December 2022. Army Chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the exercises showed “how both the US Army and the JGSDF operate in a joint, combined, and multi-domain warfare. This will allow us to adjust our doctrines, tactics, techniques, and procedures as necessary in order for us to operate on a global scale.” 
• This year, the Philippines is to receive Japan’s first defense equipment export since Japan lifted a ban on such transfers in 2014: warning and control radar systems manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric. The detection system can help the Philippines monitor maritime and air activity in the South China Sea. 

‘Most important security partner’

Among Southeast Asian countries, the Philippines has been open to receiving assistance from Japan, Saya Kiba of the Kobe City University of Foreign Studies, told me. Kiba, who has been studying security relations between Japan and ASEAN members, traced the start of the expansion of defense ties between Manila and Tokyo to the administrations of President Benigno Aquino III and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. After Typhoon Haiyan devastated parts of the Philippines in 2013, Japan sent more than 1,000 JSDF personnel to assist in disaster relief, the largest deployment ever. After this, the Philippines’ defense department considered forging an RAA or VFA with Japan for seamless coordination between the JSDF and AFP during disasters.

Security relations between the two countries have since come a long way. As Tomotaka Shoji of the National Institute for Defense Studies, a think tank of Japan’s defense ministry, told me: “The Philippines is the most important security partner of Japan (in Southeast Asia). We share common concerns about maritime security in the face of China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea and East China Sea.”

We will be seeing more joint military activities with Japan as well as trilateral security cooperation among Japan, the US and the Philippines. But that’s a topic for another day. 

Let me know what you think. You can email me at marites.vitug@rappler.com. – Rappler.com

For many sports fans and journalists, only gold holds real weight. Much more so in local basketball where it’s the only acceptable medal color the Philippine team can take home in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. 

The regional sporting showcase has long served as the country’s hoop playground. Even before the action starts, fans have virtually tallied one basketball gold for the Philippines in the medal board.

That’s how dominant we were in the sport, or so we thought, until the Indonesians pulled off the biggest shocker last year when they snatched the gold away from us after 33 years.

Hello! I’m Jasmine Payo, the sports editor of Rappler. This year’s SEA Games in Cambodia just wrapped up and the Philippines finally reclaimed the basketball gold.

It wasn’t an easy trek back to the top, though, as Gilas Pilipinas lost early to Cambodia – the SEA Games host who pulled out all the stops to win this year. 

In men’s basketball, the Cambodians fielded an American first five – all naturalized players so technically, they didn’t violate any sporting rule, but they sure did one-up us. 

Even tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP), the chairman emeritus of the Philippines’ basketball federation and longtime sports patron, couldn’t help but air his disbelief.

Just minutes after the final buzzer, MVP posted on Twitter that Gilas Pilipinas had a “disgraceful game,” even describing it as “an ignominious defeat which will be etched deeply in infamy.” 

For local sports journalists that night, action shifted from on-court to online.

To instantaneously see an irate MVP on social media still takes some getting used to for some of us traditionally trained sports journalists. 

I covered sports for a major broadsheet, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, for over a decade before joining Rappler. Given the different work dynamics, I admittedly needed help from my agile Gen Z sports reporters Delfin Dioquino and JR Isaga, and our digital communications head Kaye Cabal to fill me in on the social media action. 

That early blow Gilas Pilipinas took? Back then, all the locker-room unraveling you can only find out from us trads – print, television, and radio. 

But now that social media act like a king, news coverage has clearly pivoted in so many ways over the years. 

Along with it, the Southeast Asian sporting landscape also made strides and turns – whether good or bad depends on which side of the region you’re playing. 

For a longtime sporting minnow like Cambodia, the changes – technology (they had a nifty SEA Games app, by the way) and naturalization rules, included – mostly turned out for the better.

For the Philippines, sporting action remains a mixed bag, but there’s still a lot to celebrate in this SEA Games. Reclaiming the basketball gold isn’t all that matters, after all.

Many other Filipino athletes made us proud, winning a total of 58 gold medals, led by Olympians EJ Obiena (pole vault), Carlos Yulo (gymnastics), Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam (boxing), Kurt Barbosa (taekwondo), and Elreen Ando (weightlifting). 

For most of our sports heroes – whether they took home a gold, silver, or bronze – there’s an irreplaceable sense of pride and glory in carrying the national colors on the international stage.

On the pragmatic side, athletes also look forward to the monetary bonus – an incentive that national athletes are entitled to receive by law. 

Since quite a number of local athletes come from poor provinces, the windfall usually turns lives around. So for them, competitions define not just their paths on court or on field, but also off it.

Oro, plata, mata. It’s an unrelated architectural superstition, yet somehow, lends sports a different meaning. 

Gold, silver, death. While a major loss or injury can sometimes turn into a career death sentence, Filipino warriors often try to find ways to bounce back.

They fight many battles – on court, on field, and also off it. This SEA Games, we’re reminded again that athletes serve more than just a sportswriter’s game subject, and definitely more than just a fan’s passing entertainment, even if it’s so easy for some to diss, or more terribly, unleash online vile on losers.

Athletes’ lives play out in many unique ways, their challenges different. It’s a life that we fans and sports journalists often only appreciate when they’re on top. It’s a life  that we non-physically gifted folks can only imagine. It’s a life where any medal color glitters. – Rappler.com

He said we don’t deserve the attacks we’ve been getting and pointed out that we’re just not appreciated enough. Why bother, was the unstated question. As a show of support, he offered to help in any way he can from where he preferred to be: in the background. 

I was, of course, delighted to hear the very encouraging words which have been coming our way more frequently these days, unlike in the dark and dangerous Duterte years. Contrary to public perception, journalism, stripped to its core, can be a rather lonely endeavor. Driven mainly by public service and the desire to make a difference, no matter how miniscule – sans ego fueled by likes, views, or shares on social media – seeing challenging stories to their conclusion can be tough. And hearing from well-meaning supporters who appreciate what we do can mean a lot.

A journalist sometimes (maybe often) talks to herself or himself, trying to figure out and make sense of facts, details, inconsistencies, irregularities, motivations. Obsession about uncovering what others strive to keep hidden or inscrutable is common. Socializing takes a backseat.

Investigative stories

Such was the case for our investigative team of two reporters, Ryan Macasero and Bonz Magsambol, and researcher Ailla Dela Cruz, who worked on our two-part Department of Education (DepEd) laptops story. They spent long hours poring over documents, pushing numbers on their mobile phones, pursuing elusive interviewees, consulting and chatting endlessly with their editors and other experts to make sure they had the closest approximation of the truth. They needed to make sure they got it right. By May, the team was ready.

Part 1 showed how laptops paid for with public funds and intended for public school teachers ended up being sold in surplus retail shops for just a fraction of their actual unit price. Part 2 uncovered the background of a logistics provider named Transpac Cargo Logistics Inc. that won a DepEd bid to distribute laptops to public school teachers nationwide. It got into trouble as public schools reported not receiving the laptops supposedly intended for them. DepEd, for its part, failed to pay the company, leading to a spiral of other events such as the sale of the laptops.

The team spent about six months working on this story, in between other assignments and breaking news stories. A less dedicated group of journalists would have given up after early roadblocks that included non-responsive officials and sources, opaque processes, and even hostility. 

In the process of piecing together the story, a big question was why and how the laptops found their way to marketplaces and why DepEd was not moving quickly to stop the sales or recover the laptops – pretty much like watching idly by as your house burned slowly. The laptops were, after all, government property supposed to be distributed by Transpac at a minimum cost of P667 million. 

Was it sheer incompetence, negligence, or wanton disregard for wasted funds? Was there no interest whatsoever in exacting accountability from officials who allowed the illegal sale of laptops to happen? And how about the teachers and their students who were supposed to have been taught during the lockdowns using the laptops, was there absolutely no concern for them too? 

It bears remembering that in October 2021, the time the Transpac contract was sealed, the country logged the highest number of deaths due to COVID-19. Remote learning was still in place and the non-delivery of laptops to public schools only made the situation worse for teachers and students alike.

According to a 2022 World Bank study, the Philippines registered a learning poverty rate of 90.9% (as of 2019) – among the worst in ASEAN and only slightly better than Afghanistan’s 93.4%. Learning poverty is defined as the inability to read and understand a simple story at the age of 10. 

The same report cited overworked teachers as factors exacerbating learning poverty. Given this data, one would expect that DepEd would be more affected and resort to drastic measures to fix the laptop problem. But it did not.

Stunning silence

After the series was published, there was stunning silence from DepEd and even lawmakers who are usually quick to call for investigations. There were muted reactions as if the usual rabble-rousers just preferred to wait for the cool air to descend and cause the hot issue to evaporate.

Why? The only reason I could think of is fear. Fear of a political fallout maybe? Or behind-the-scene efforts to quietly fix everything among themselves.

Accountability lay with the previous DepEd administration under Rodrigo Duterte as well as the current one under the daughter Sara, the vice president and education secretary.

There were reports about resignations but these were not openly nor officially announced. Hush-hush style with no transparency. One eventually confirmed but denied the resignation was related to the laptop deals.

Meanwhile, I was reminded of the same question asked during the Wylie event. “Why bother?” 

I have a simple answer. 

Remember Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes”? When people pretend not to hear nor see, there’s got to be someone who will shout, “The emperor is naked!” We can’t all be stupid and someone’s got to care. – Rappler.com

What does the last decade of tech disruption mean for us today? What do we know – and don’t know – about the future? How do we navigate a world beset with old problems but seduced by harmful tools to solve them?

This was the premise of our recent World Press Freedom conversation, which we organized in partnership with Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom – Philippines. It’s a Rappler+ event entitled, “Navigating an AI Future with Maria Ress and Chris Wylie” held on Wednesday, May 3, 2023.  

Rappler CEO and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa chatted with Chris Wylie, the person who blew the whistle on the harms that tech is causing the world. Describing Big Tech as “colonizers” of the 21st century, Wylie knows firsthand how algorithms are being weaponized by tech platforms and governments, and is pushing for tighter scrutiny of and greater accountability for Big Tech.

It was incredibly thought-provoking to hear Ressa interview Wylie in the Philippines, the place he called the petri dish used by the likes of Cambridge Analytica. Together with over 80 Rappler+ members and partners, we talked about what this new technology means and how we can forge a way forward with a balance of reality, dread, and optimism.

Watch the full video below using the password: NavigatingAI

– Rappler.com

That quirk is in sharp contrast to another Gen Z trait – their flair for drama.

In an earlier Judgment Call, I talked about the propensity of Gen Zs to selfie while crying, or furiously finish a task while crying. There is even such a thing as scheduled crying. (Yes, they can be obsessive about their schedules.) In the days after I wrote that, I got calls from friends in my age bracket telling me about their own daughter/son, niece/nephew who exhibit the same bewildering behavior. (Read Gen Z, the babyless generation?)

But apparently, the drama is mostly in their heads, or in the privacy of their rooms, or in the company of close, same-age friends. 

In a casual chat with Gen Zs, I learned about their love affair with themselves – what they call their “main character syndrome.” 

“It’s all about you” is something we say to people who act like the universe revolves around them. But this is not just a case of generational narcissism.

This generation is very much aware of their impact – on  the planet, on society, and in their own little social circles. But even when a simple act is not seen to create a ripple, they act like it does.

Gen Z see, or rather imagine, their world as a reel, and they are the main characters. If these snippets of the documentary in their heads make it to Instagram reels or TikTok, so much the better.

The script goes like this: Gen Z walks into a classroom or cafe, cool music is playing in the background, the sunlight/mood lighting falls on his/her/their perfect skin, he/she/them catches everyone’s attention, his/her/their clothes are effortlessly understated and quirky, his/her/their smile is stunning. He/she/them is someone everyone wants to date, or at least hook up with.

That’s why everything is done with attention to detail, with flair, with style, with the right aesthetics (more on this word later), and of course with feeling.

No wonder this generation feels right at home in the influencer culture – they understand the pricelessness of being in the moment and milking it of all the “feels” it can bring.

Is this something unique to Gen Z? Maybe not. Maybe every generation goes through this stage. What we do know is that Gen Zs own up to this syndrome.

And it ties up a lot of things we know about Gen Z: the attention to detail and obsessiveness with productivity, the love of quirky, and the aversion to conflict. 

They’re obsessive about their output because that’s how they see themselves as main characters – effortlessly competent. 

They love quirky because they can’t be run-of-the-mill or garden-variety. 

They are averse to conflict because they see no point in wasting time arguing with the movie extras, the NPCs (in gaming, a non-player character) – that’s us older folks.

They are obsessive about aesthetics because they’re not just the lead in their drama, they’re also the director and the set designer. It’s not about substance but form – raw, authentic, and unfiltered. Aesthetics is the greenscreen of the movies in their heads.

As our discussion wore on, they told me what they think it’s really about: main character syndrome is a coping mechanism. 

It’s the saran wrap that keeps them insulated, impermeable, and blasė to the world. They may be sad, devastated even, but that’s part of the job description of the main protagonist. And at least one psychiatrist approves calling it “healthy.”

It’s about creating the headspace that keeps them highly functioning while going through a lot. And when they fail to sustain the Netflix series in their head? Members of this age group dubbed “the sad generation” instinctively suspect they’re having an episode – a mental episode. (Read Unraveling the enigmatic, confounding Gen Z)

Back to our question: are they really that grounded? Why do they like to melt into the background? They’re not really out to impress you, the boss, or the senior colleague. If you do get impressed, that’s a byproduct of their largesse as the main character. 

They’re already the lead actors/actresses in their movie sets, and while it would be nice if you approve of them, they don’t crave your approval. The real world is just a big film set in their parallel plane of existence. – Rappler.com

At least 60 survivors and families of the slain appeared before the senators from April 17 to 19. 

Rappler reporters and editors waded through three days of seven to 10-hour hearings.

As senators and their political allies threw out pet solutions to the problem of impunity, we were gripped by deja vu. 

I’m Inday Espina-Varona, Rappler’s head of Regions. I’ve covered bloodshed on Negros island since the 1980s. 

Lawmakers and executive officials at the hearings of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs expressed outrage at the involvement of police officials in numerous Negros Oriental crimes or in cover-ups.

The murder of nine people, including Degamo, and the wounding of 17 others roused residents to break the silence that had kept hundreds of killings under wraps in half a decade.

Bato’s tears

At the close of the third day of hearings, committee chairman Senator Ronald dela Rosa, wept in shame and sorrow because he felt people no longer trusted cops. 

Break your silence, Dela Rosa urged province folk. “A refusal to stay silent is one sure step to address violence,” he said.

What wasn’t said was, more than 100 residents of Negros Occidental were red-tagged first and then killed precisely for speaking up on abuses and for defending victims of human rights violations. 

From July 2016 to August 27, 2019 – earlier than most of the cases taken up by the Senate committee – gunmen killed 116 rights defenders: 66 in Negros Oriental and 50 in Negros Occidental. 

Dela Rosa was president Rodrigo Duterte’s national police chief when the first barrage of killings happened. Many of these were linked to agrarian unrest and alleged land grabbing by local political dynasties.

Rappler closely covered many of these cases. 

Half of the killings happened during pre-dawn joint operations, with families dragged out of their homes before executions commenced. 

Riding in tandem gunmen staged daylight ambuscades that killed lawyers, teachers, farmers, doctors, and councilors.

Many had the same hallmarks of the brazen, we’ll-get-away-with-it attitude that marked the killing of Degamo. 

The fear grew as years went by. At least two lawyers handling agrarian claims and labor cases of agriculture workers were gunned down.

‘All out war’

At the hearing, officials vowed to crush the perpetrators of killings and return the peace to Negros Oriental. 

Yet their proposals would just consolidate the constriction of democratic space.

Duterte is gone, but, as the Senate hearings show, the country continues to teeter on the “slippery slope to authoritarianism.”

For instance, Justice Secretary Boying Remulla just transformed killings over political feuds into a terrorist conspiracy. 

He justified the use of a draconian law as a means of “breaking the impasse” and forcing the return of suspended Negros Occidental 3rd District Representative Arnie Teves.

This is precisely why lawyers, activists, and journalists challenged this overbroad and vague law in the Supreme Court.

Even worse is the power of the Anti-Terror Council to unilaterally declare anyone a terrorist sans court processes.

The most chilling moment, however, was hearing Dela Rosa call for “all-out war” against e-sabong. 

It was the same worldview that fueled Duterte’s “war on drugs.” His “kill” mantra snuffed out the lives of 6,252 Filipinos in police operations as of May 31, 2022, and from 27,000 to 30,000 in vigilante-style hits.

Like Duterte, Dela Rosa had jeered at rights defenders. He also equated the defense of human rights with support for drug lords.

Drug “addicts” were vermin to be crushed. His former boss vowed to protect cops faced with human rights complaints.

The Commission on Human Rights, a government body, warned that Duterte and his allies created  “a dangerous fiction” – dissent as terrorism. 

On both counts, demonizing targets were meant to foster a false sense of security, the ultimate in they-against-us among citizens.

Negros Oriental cops blocked victims’ families trying to work through the legal justice system. Police in Duterte’s drug war obstructed justice every step of the way, even in defiance of the Supreme Court. 

Speaking up can break the violence. But until killers are held accountable and the infrastructure of injustice is smashed, Filipinos will die. – Rappler.com

In 1995, an era predating smartphones and wifi, I was christened by my newspaper the call sign “Papa 1” when they deployed reporters to cover the second visit of Pope John Paul II to the country. The coverage team then used walkie-talkies to communicate with each other. Though cell phones already existed then, the signal in many areas was still spotty and unreliable.

Again in 2015, I set aside desk work and volunteered to cover the Manila visit of Pope Francis. It must have been divined that I and a handful of media people would stand outside the barrier along the Arellano Drive side of  UST’s open field and get an unobstructed view of the Pope atop the popemobile. I’m sure Pope Francis glanced at me when his vehicle passed in front of us as it was about to exit the UST campus through the Espana Boulevard gate.

I am Chito de la Vega, a senior desk editor here at Rappler. I am also part of the faith and social issues cluster.

News organizations have always had a church beat reporter. But in the Philippine context, the church is synonymous with the Roman Catholic Church. Reporters pounding the church beat have only names of Catholic prelates on their speed dials. And their most dominant source for stories was whoever was the Archbishop of Manila. 

But it’s different at Rappler.

Reporters, researchers, artists, and social media specialists are grouped into topic clusters. Gone is the passé nomenclature of calling it beats. There are clusters, which are arranged according to topics agreed upon by the various editorial units. 

Arranging coverage teams according to topics makes sense because it gives each cluster an autonomy to assess, then later pursue, stories that are not limited to certain agencies or sectors. Dismissed was the previous newsroom practice of beats or assignments based on geographical considerations. 

The traditional beats are still there – the likes of Malacañang, the military, diplomacy. But should topics or issues arise within these areas, the clusters can take over.

Though covering the Church is still part of the faith cluster, here at Rappler we have a broader view on this topic. Right off the bat, binding together social issues and faith gives you an inkling of how editors consider these two. 

Faith is now no longer confined to an institution, regardless of how dominant that group is. No single thought monopolizes the conversation. 

Kaleidoscope of discussions

There still is no overlooking religious events, the Philippines being predominantly Christian or Roman Catholic. But at Rappler there is a conscious effort to veer away from monochrome narratives and present a kaleidoscope of discussions.  

Equally featured are perspectives from other faiths. Example is the piece “Ramadan during quarantine: In smaller circles, faith grows deeper,” which looks at the challenges faced by Filipino Muslims during Islamic fasting month at the height of COVID-19 lockdowns.

There was also a time when Rappler presented reflections on the Catholic Holy Week tradition of “Siete Palabras” (7 Last Words) from a nun, an evangelical Christian, and a Methodist pastor. 

Rappler’s coverage of faith is not only about reflections and traditions. We are proudest of our spadework – investigative stories which require a lot of digging to uncover ugly truths, which we consider as vital information for our citizens. As American journalists Kovach and Rosenstiel said, “journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.”

In our investigative stories, we set aside our rose-colored glasses to look for hard facts. 

Rappler has been at the forefront of investigative reporting on the misconduct of different religious groups as far back as 2013, when the late  Aries Rufo wrote his groundbreaking book “Altar of Secrets: Sex, Politics, and Money in the Philippine Catholic Church.”  

Piecing together stories about wrongdoings of religious groups is like tiptoeing on a veritable  minefield;  there’s no room for mistakes.

Also riling the high and mighty are thought-provoking opinion pieces like those of sociologist Jayeel Cornelio. In his commentary on a homophobic congressmen, Cornelio came out blasting at the first paragraph when he wrote: “We must call it for what it is. Benny Abante’s homophobic bill is religious evil.”

As expected, Rappler’s exposés have caught the ire of religious groups, which previously were virtual untouchables when discussions veered towards abuses in their respective institutions. Examples are the controversies besetting the Iglesia Ni Cristo and Apollo Quiboloy’s Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Members of Quiboloy’s group had sued Rappler for libel in Davao, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, and other Mindanao cities. They have also hammered Rappler in their respective media platforms. What triggered all this were Rappler’s investigative reports by veteran journalists Herbie  Gomez and Inday Espina Varona.

Thankfully, the prosecutors dismissed all of the libel suits for lack of merit. 

The faith cluster also publishes statements of religious figures who speak out against abuses in society. Religious leaders like Archbishop Soc Villegas, Bishop Ambo David, Fr. Flavie Villanueva, and those of the Philippine Independent Church, and the United Church of Christ in the Philippines have been covered by Rappler’s faith cluster.

Indeed, by having a faith cluster, Rappler’s reportage is unbound. It used to be tied down by the title “religion” or “church beat.” The shift has opened a wider vista – not only for our audience but for Rappler journalists as well. – Rappler.com

Hello. I’m Gani de Castro, a senior desk editor of Rappler who, prior to this stint, spent 11 years as editor in chief of news.abs-cbn.com. 

I was able to piece together information on the charterer and likely owner of the cargo on the sunken MT Princess Empress. And it’s a company that is a subsidiary of the Philippines’ largest diversified conglomerate, San Miguel Corporation (SMC), a company beloved for its iconic beer, San Mig, and basketball team, Barangay Ginebra.  

It appears that only a limited number of news outfits are pursuing this angle – perhaps understandably so, given that SMC is one of the biggest media advertisers in the country. Its president, Ramon S. Ang or RSA, is the Philippines’ 9th richest individual, according to Forbes Media, and one of the biggest donors to charity and other noble causes. 

Who knows? Rappler’s story may still turn out to be wrong, but if this is the case, then it would raise suspicion about the activities at SL Harbor Terminal, the private port of the SMC subsidiary where MT Princess Empress left on February 28. Now that could be the bigger story. 

Rappler’s research team has also come up with an exclusive on the Filipino company on the hot seat, RDC Reield Marine Services, the small, family-owned enterprise that owns MT Princess Empress, which is now embroiled in several regulatory controversies. 

Rappler’s Ailla dela Cruz also tackled why it’s important to contain the oil spill ASAP.

We hope that most of the 800,000 liters of toxic oil are still in the sunken vessel, and that they can be plugged or siphoned as soon as possible in the interest of nature and humanity. A Japanese remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) finally found MT Princess Empress on March 20, but Coast Guard Commandant Artemio Abu cautioned that another ROV would have to be shipped to Oriental Mindoro to plug or siphon the oil.  

There’s a lot to learn from this unfolding environmental tragedy, and still a lot of work to be done and reforms that need to be undertaken. Among the developments that should be watched are:

• Will the country’s leaders heed the appeal of Coast Guard experts who are recommending the crafting of a law that will make ship owners liable for sea mishaps? In an opinion piece published on Rappler in 2019, Coast Guard deputy chief Jay Tarriela said the Philippines is perhaps the only country left that is conducting the pre-departure inspection of vehicles, noting that no ship owner has ever been imprisoned due to any of the country’s maritime disasters. 
• Dean La Viña says it’s time the Philippines pass a corporate environment liability act to make private companies, including the charterer and cargo owner, liable for oil pollution. Will there be champions for this in both Houses of Congress? Will President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. support such a measure considering that among the major stockholders of SMC are his friends and supporters? 
• Will SMC’s Ramon Ang speak up on whether one of the conglomerate’s subsidiaries is indeed the charterer and owner of the more than 800,000 liters of oil? Will the company be truthful to its value of “malasakit” (concern)? 

– Rappler.com

There’s an added layer of complication: our producers are Gen Z. One minute they are conflict-averse, the next they overshare. They are ruthless bargain-hunters with discriminating tastes. They demand raw and unfiltered but would dive head-first into an ocean of digital.

But one facet fascinates me the most and I’ve heard it often enough from these kids that I can’t let go: they don’t want to have babies. (I like to crack the macabre joke in front of them, “I knew it, Gen Z will cause the extinction of mankind.”)

And it’s not an empty oath – Gen Z’s teen pregnancy rates in the US plummeted in 2018, going from 48 to just 17 births per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19. While we can’t say they’re having less sex (they swear they’re actually into it more, and guilt-free to boot), they certainly are not bearing the brunt of their sexual adventures. Why? They use contraceptives like they wash their hands and count to twenty.

That “I’ve-got-this-covered” mentality ties up with another facet of Gen Z that will play a role in what I’ve dubbed as the “babyless generation:” they can be obsessive. Maybe that’s why they’re at the center of the controversy on the hyper-inflation of grades raised by UP journalism teacher Danilo Arao. The common sentiment on social media is that if you’re all cum laude, it doesn’t mean anything.

My educated guess is that the obsessiveness was wired into their brains by a lifetime of interaction with electronic devices – they press the right buttons in the right order and they get the right results. If they don’t get the results they want, they try a new combo. It’s the classic gamer’s response: Fight. Die. Repeat. 

My Gen Z workmates tell me there’s a meme about the “high functioning, sad Gen Z.” (Yes, they’re also called the saddest generation.)  The meme shows a kid furiously finishing a task, all the while crying a river. Devastated, yes, but damn it, they will finish the task.

There’s even such a thing as “scheduled crying.” They post while crying, they even selfie while crying. Believe you me.

But back to the specter of a low birth rate for succeeding generations. (Ok, I exaggerate, but despite the Philippines being a baby factory, look at China and its low-birth rate crisis.) 

When I ask why they say they don’t want to have babies, the most common answer is akin to why they feel strongly for climate change: “I don’t want to bring someone into a world of suffering and chaos.” “It’s not just about my happiness, it’s for the greater good.”

To other Gen Z, having a baby does not compute: “I can’t even take good care of myself, how can I even think of giving birth to another human being?”

One of my guys explains where that social conscience comes from, “To Gen Z, everything has meaning. We’re conscious that whatever we do has an impact.” What could be more impactful to a dying planet than wanton procreation?

Will they change their minds down the line about having babies? Probably. But they are already making an impact with this refusal to make babies now. It’s already a generational statement. 

Thus, the bigger question in my head is: What role will Gen Z play in the future? Will they change the world? Or at the very least, will their generation give us a crop of progressive, eco-friendly, solution-centric politicians? 

Why do I like to take this generation apart? It’s not just out of sociological curiosity. I’m looking for hope. Looking into their eyes, I hope they craft a better future for the next gen – better than what we Boomers are passing on to them.

I hope they never “grow up.” – Rappler.com