Spotlight | ABS-CBN News

Votes for sale: Money matters in the time of elections

Isay Reyes, ABS-CBN News
May 12 07:52 PM | Updated May 12 09:57 PM

MANILA - Anna (not her real name) was invited to an election gathering when she received a brown envelope containing a lengthwise sheet of paper with the names of local candidates running for office in Bulacan. Read more »

5 questions environment-conscious voters should ask candidates

Kristine Sabillo, ABS-CBN News
May 11 05:06 AM | Updated May 11 05:08 AM

Drowned out in the political noise this election season is one vital point that voters need to remember — the May 13 polls is a referendum on the country's environmental future. Read more »

Dry-run for presidency? Duterte daughter revels in Philippine midterms spotlight

Martin Petty, Reuters
May 10 05:31 PM | Updated May 10 06:17 PM

During Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's first two years in office, his daughter Sara had barely any interest in politics. One year on, she is front and center in a midterm election that she isn't even running in, playing kingmaker for candidates allied with her father. Read more »

Inside a Chinese gambling entity: What happens, who works, how?

Alvin A. Camba, Contributor/Fellow, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
May 09 11:41 PM

The sudden surge of offshore gambling firms during Duterte is not surprising.  Read more »

Missing in the 2019 election campaign discourse: protection of environment

Imelda V. Abano, VERA Files
May 09 11:29 PM | Updated May 11 01:33 AM

(UPDATED) At the homestretch of the 2019 election campaign, environment groups are dismayed that the issue of environment protection has not been given much attention by the candidates. Read more »

How a Chinese venture in Venezuela made millions while locals grew hungry

Angus Berwick, Reuters
May 07 10:38 PM

The project was meant to feed millions.   Read more »

Scientists warn a million species at risk of extinction

Gus Trompiz, Reuters
May 06 05:55 PM

"This loss is a direct result of human activity and constitutes a direct threat to human well-being in all regions of the world." Read more »

In the May polls, everyone wants to be by the Dutertes’ side

Dharel Placido, ABS-CBN News
May 06 04:08 PM | Updated May 06 04:56 PM

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte’s enduring popularity has become a boon for many candidates in the upcoming polls, with some bets showing willingness to set aside their long-held principles or even share the stage with their opponents just to get an endorsement from the firebrand leader. Read more »

Philippine cybersex crackdown sparks concern over care for child victims

Matt Blomberg,Thomson Reuters Foundation
May 06 08:32 AM

Campaigners put the country at the global epicenter of the growing trade, which is creating a crisis of care for rising numbers of children, many very young, who often have to be removed from families that profit from their exploitation.   Read more »

Bar topnotchers reveal stand on issues, advocacies

ABS-CBN News
May 05 04:55 PM

Two of the topnotchers of this year's Bar exams revealed their positions on some of the issues facing the country, as well as the advocacies they would like to push. Read more »

Only 43 countries enjoy press freedom: media watchdog

ABS-CBN News
May 04 09:22 PM

Only 9 percent of the world — or 43 countries — have press freedom, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Thursday, World Press Freedom Day. Read more »

Bayan Muna partylist still frontrunner in May polls: Pulse Asia

ABS-CBN News
May 03 11:11 PM

A new pre-election survey shows only a small fraction of all the registered partylist groups in the Philippines may win seats in the House of Representatives. Read more »

China's underwater nukes test the Pentagon

Greg Torode and David Lague, Reuters
May 02 11:52 PM

HONG KONG - Recent visitors to the bay surrounding a submarine base on the southern coast of China's Hainan Island describe a curious nocturnal phenomenon. Powerful spotlights are sometimes trained directly on the ocean frontages of neighboring hotels at night, making visibility out to sea virtually impossible. Some of the lights are mounted on land and others on passing naval patrol boats. Read more »

#ANCMyVote: Blogger has high hopes for May polls

ABS-CBN News
May 01 12:46 AM

We now put the spotlight on a technology blogger, who has high hopes the upcoming elections will yield lawmakers who understand how exactly the digital world impacts society. Read more »

Learn to listen to people dealing with depression, mental health advocates say

ABS-CBN News
Apr 30 12:15 AM

Mental health advocates advice parents to cultivate a culture of listening to what their children have to say. Read more »

#ANCMyVote: Young mom perseveres to become lawyer to help Pinoys

ABS-CBN News
Apr 29 11:01 PM

With just one vote, Filipinos have the power to shape the Philippine political landscape.    Read more »

Can Otso Diretso bets pull off surprise win?

Rose Carmelle Lacuata, ABS-CBN News
Apr 29 10:59 PM

MANILA - It is still possible for Otso Diretso senatorial bets to pull off a surprise win in the upcoming elections, even if most of them lag behind in pre-election surveys, according to a political strategist. Read more »

Current electoral system pits allies against each other - analyst

ABS-CBN News
Apr 29 12:01 PM | Updated Apr 29 12:03 PM

The Philippine electoral system allows a "high-level intra-party competition" that weakens the cohesiveness of political parties, an analyst said Monday. Read more »

Don’t make us crawl on Election Day: PWD groups

VJ Bacungan, VERA Files
Apr 27 02:12 PM

In an ideal world, persons with disability should have no problem casting their ballots during elections. In the Philippines, however, PWDs often face a number of hurdles, including voting in precincts located in upper floors of buildings without ramps or elevators. Read more »

Know your rights: Ateneo study cites rights violated in ‘Tokhang’

Michael Joe Delizo, ABS-CBN News
Apr 26 05:05 PM | Updated Apr 26 06:20 PM

At least 8 rights guaranteed by the Philippine Constitution have been violated by the enforcement and implementation of the policies created by the government for its intensified anti-drug campaign, based on a study presented by the Ateneo Human Rights Center (AHRC) on Friday. Read more »

Made in China, exported to the world: the surveillance state

Paul Mozur, Jonah M. Kessel and Melissa Chan, The New York Times
Apr 26 09:24 AM | Updated Apr 26 12:35 PM

The squat gray building in Ecuador’s capital commands a sweeping view of the city’s sparkling sprawl, from the high-rises at the base of the Andean valley to the pastel neighborhoods that spill up its mountainsides. Read more »

Food, medicine, water: What has Nature done for us lately?

Catherine Hours, Agence France-Presse
Apr 26 05:50 AM

PARIS, France - From the food we eat to the air that we breathe, Nature not only provides mankind with the means to live but also the services to thrive.  Read more »

Chief seismologist wants audit of structures built before 1992

Ron Gagalac, ABS-CBN News
Apr 25 04:10 PM | Updated Apr 25 09:43 PM

MANILA - A massive audit and inspection of structures built before 1992 should be done by owners and local governments following consecutive earthquakes that shook Luzon and Visayas this week, the country’s chief seismologist Renato Solidum said Thursday.  Read more »

Join forces to win land battles, UN expert tells global indigenous leaders

Ellen Wulfhorst, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Apr 25 07:19 AM

Indigenous people fighting to protect their rights must band together and build a global campaign to fend off unwelcome development and encroachment that forces them off their land, a UN expert has said.   Read more »

After 'caliphate' defeat, Islamic State is down but not out

Reuters
Apr 25 07:16 AM | Updated Apr 25 07:18 AM

Driven from its self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria, Islamic State is down but not out.   Read more »