Archive - Editor's Pick

It was only after Datu Diarog’s death that the details exploded on Davao city’s residents’ faces. The Datu’s son Diolito related: Early in 2018, the barangay chairman of the adjacent barangay of Tamayong Greg Canada had twice seen his father. Canada insisted to buy the Datu’s hilltop two hectares. The price? Only 50,000 Pesos. During both meetings, Datu Diarog refused.

Away from the country for seven years now, Lascañas received a very unusual communication on December 23, 2022 from Lyon, France. It was from the Interpol. It said that the General Secretariat of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) certified that Lascañas was not the subject of an Interpol notice or diffusion.

A total of 183 governments are scheduled to meet in Panama City, Panama from 5-10 February 2024 for the tenth session of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). The WHO FCTC protects the fundamental right of all people to enjoy the highest standard of health. The Philippines is a Party to this treaty, and at the COP10, fierce debates are expected around electronic smoking devices (ESDs); harmful tobacco products that the tobacco industry is aggressively marketing to the youth.

“Sara advised abduction and burial at Laud Quarry” - Arturo Lascañas

Bagong Pilipinas is the “[Bongbong Marcos] Administration’s brand of governance and leadership.”

“Polong was the mastermind in the smuggling of shabu in the Port of Davao, and I was one of his conduits or front men ” - Arturo Lascañas

For Tabios and Cuaresma, and thousands of other fishermen in this province, the WPS dispute is not just about fighting for our territorial rights but also fighting for their livelihood. (This special report was produced under VERA Files’ project on enhancing the media’s capability to raise public awareness of the situation in the South China Sea, funded by the Government of Canada through its Canada Fund for Local Initiatives. #CanadaFundPH )

The key hotspots for the killings are Davao del Sur, 61; Cebu, 52; Metro Manila, 41; Negros Occidental, 31; and Iloilo, 22.

Evalan, Edora and Barnachan said fishermen’s wives like them cannot depend on the sea anymore for their livelihood.

Lascañas reveals plots to kill De Lima and Fr. Lamata, the real reason Parojinog and members of his family were murdered and Duterte’s instruction to rape women drug suspects.

Dahil sa patuloy na pagsira ng China sa coral reefs sa West Philippine Sea, nangangamba ang mga mangingisda at eksperto sa masamang epekto nito sa kabuhayan at food security ng bansa. Pakinggan sila dito sa special episode ng #WhatTheF?! Podcast.

Ngayong taon, 46 sa 410 na online claims na dinebunk ng VERA Files Fact Check mula Enero hanggang Disyembre ay may kinalaman sa mga natural at man-made disaster.

Halos doble ang bilang ng mga online scam na na-fact-check ngayong taon ng VERA Files kumpara noong nakaraang taon. Mula Jan. 1 hanggang Dec. 8, 2023, nakapag-fact-check ang VERA Files ng 78 scam posts na maaaring nakapambiktima ng maraming Pilipino.

Issues involving the West Philippine Sea, the South China Sea and China were among the topics most frequently debunked by VERA Files in 2023, accounting for almost a sixth (71) of 410 fact-check articles published from Jan. 1 to Dec. 8.

Sa isyu ng disinformation sa agrikultura, nakapag-monitor ang VERA Files Fact Check ng 15 pahayag ng mga opisyal ng gobyerno at online posts. Labintatlo rito ay tungkol sa bigas at siyam ang direktang tumutukoy sa pagpapababa ng presyo nito.

Political doublespeak: omission, diversion and confusion, characterized President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s first full year in office. More than half of his claims in 2023 lacked context, were flip-flops, or misleading.

From clickbait headlines of videos to patently false claims, the allegations that he fired several errant government officials, withdrew wealth from foreign countries or that the Maharlika Fund will collate national wealth and pay the country’s debts all seemed to prop up President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s image.

Misleading claims of former president Rodrigo Duterte on the jurisdiction of the ICC continued to haunt the disinformation landscape in 2023 even as the current administration now considers cooperating in the tribunal’s ongoing probe into the bloody drug war.