We hope you’re safe and warm despite Typhoon Julian’s powerful winds early Monday, September 30, off Babuyan Islands. The sun was out over the weekend for Rappler — and I mean that in the figurative sense as we capped our three-day training with a dozen journalists from the provinces as well as in Indonesia, Cambodia, and Singapore.
Rappler’s flagship fellowship programs — the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship and #FactsMatter Journalism Fellowship — are on their fourth cycle now. They have resulted not only in compelling investigations and in-depth stories on issues that seldom see the light of day but also in collaborative work that’s holding Big Tech to account and reconnecting journalism with readers.
The fellowships are one of the reasons why we do what we do.
Our campus journalist fellows — there are six of them — have been featuring what moves and aches their communities:
- Here’s Angelee Kaye Abelinde’s take on Bicol’s legendary tradition, the Peñafrancia.
- Reinnard Balonzo tackles transportation safety in Albay.
- Cris Fernan Bayaga tells us how Cebu students depict the horrors of Martial Law through art.
- Efren Cyril Bocar profiles a bustling seaside hub in Leyte.
- Lyndee Buenagua reminds the youth of the need to remember, and cherish, the long struggle for autonomy in the Cordillera.
- How to keep and save the Kapampangan language? Aya Ranas walks us through it.
Three reporters from the cities of Iloilo, Butuan, and Cebu were also selected for the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship:
- Rjay Castor features an Iloilo teacher’s mobile library that’s making a difference in the community.
- Erwin Mascariñas brings us to Surigao’s Bonok Bonok festival.
- Max Limpag talks about how Cebu journalists are navigating change in the age of algorithms and AI.
Fellows from our Southeast Asian neighbors provide us a look into challenges and lifestyles that Filipinos could resonate with.
- Artika Farmita (Tempo, Indonesia) shows how similarly situated Indonesia and the Philippines are when it comes to cyber scams and human trafficking. Read her in-depth story here.
- Prak Chan (Kiripost, Cambodia) writes about the dire conditions of garment workers in Cambodia.
- Sulaiman Daud (Mothership, Singapore) tells us how football and food blend so well in Singapore.
During their visit to Manila and workshops in our newsroom, we talked about how the vast and fast changes in journalism, community, technology (Rappler’s three pillars) are creating more complex challenges for all journalists. But these are also opening up opportunities for soul-searching, collaboration, and renewed commitment to keep journalism alive and relevant in our societies.
And there’s no better illustration of these challenges — and opportunities — than elections.
Beginning Tuesday, October 1, up to next Tuesday, October 8, local and senatorial candidates in the Philippines will be filing their certificates of candidacy for the 2025 elections happening on May 12 next year.
- Bookmark this page for daily updates, context and data.
- Here’s your guide to this week’s election activities.
- For questions that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has answers for, we have the Ask Your Comelec series.
- Please join the voter-hotline channel on the Rappler communities app.
What’s Philippine elections without drama and color? For one, the prodigal sister of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. opted out of the ruling coalition’s senatorial team to go on her own.
- Here’s what reelectionist Senator Imee Marcos has to say about her brother and the 2025 elections.
- The party-list Akbayan got a last-minute reprieve from the Supreme Court when the Tribunal canceled the registration papers of An Waray party list, which had occupied the last winning seat in the 2022 party-list race. The decision not only puts Akbayan back in the House for the remaining last half of the current Congress, it also saves the party from elimination in the 2025 races (two consecutive defeats in a party-list race would result in the delisting of a party.)
- Back in contention, Akbayan announced its first nominee to be human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, who was thought to be preparing for a senatorial bid.
So, are we ready for the election season? – Rappler.com
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