Others are not documented at all.

Watch this special report on the two most recent cases involving four young activists who played their captors. They are alive, and ready to tell their story. In one case, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) found a smoking gun against the military’s intelligence service.

Read related stories:

• In pattern of ‘fake surrenders,’ 1 case links abduction to military intel service
• Play the psy-war game: Young activists try to crack the case of disappearances

– Rappler.com

Since the pandemic, more people have turned to biking to get around. As a response, the government put up bike lanes across the metro. To find out how bike-friendly Metro Manila is, Rappler rode a loop of 120 kilometers around the capital in January for a documentary. Riding 100 kilometers or more is part of the bucket list of many bikers due to its sheer distance and the challenge it poses.

The loop covered Pasig, Marikina, Quezon City, Valenzuela, Malabon, Caloocan, Manila, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, and Taguig.

To assess bike-friendliness, Rappler drew up criteria evaluating the bike lanes using four factors: lane width, road conditions, obstructions, and segregation. 

These are factors that affect a biker’s safety on the road, also take into account the infrastructure the government put in place, and gauge the attitude of other motorists with respect to the lane and the bike commuter.

Only portions of the major roads covered in the loop were measured in the scorecard. 

But how safe is Metro Manila for bikers? Rappler’s Iya Gozum biked a 120-kilometer loop in Metro Manila to find out. – Rappler.com

Reporter/writer: Iya Gozum
Producer/field director: Nina Liu
Supervising producer: Beth Frondoso
Video editor: JP San Pedro
Environment editor: Jee Geronimo
Animator: David Castuciano
Graphic artists: Raffy de Guzman, Marian Hukom, Nico Villarete
Director of photography: Jeff Digma
Second camera operator: Errol Almario
Assistant cameramen: Danny Espina, Ramil Cedeno

Improving active transportation facilities and policies is part of the call of various groups to #MakeManilaLiveable. On Rappler, we have created a dedicated space for stories and reports about liveability in Philippine cities. Learn more about the movement here.

On Thursday, March 7, Rappler senior desk editor Chito dela Vega sits down with senior multimedia reporter Paterno Esmaquel II and researcher-writer Patrick Cruz to discuss the decades following the revolution that ousted the dictatorship.

Esmaquel, in a video report, explored the memory of EDSA People Power through those who view it through the eyes of faith, and how it can be seen as “an act of God.” Cruz, meanwhile, published a data report that mapped the well-entrenched Marcos dynasty in politics almost four decades since the patriarch’s reign was ended.

How has the memory of EDSA People Power changed through the years? What role does faith play in the effort to never forget the collective memory of Martial Law and the People Power Revolution?

Catch the discussion live on Thursday at 4 pm! – Rappler.com

Watch other Newsbreak Chats episode this 2024:

• Should Rodrigo Duterte be afraid of the Int’l Criminal Court?
• Charter change at the center of the Duterte-Marcos war
• Why Filipinos turn to sugar dating
• Martin Romualdez’s expanding power

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As aid and support from the West dwindles, Ukraine is turning to the rest of the world for vital assistance in its existential war against an expansionist Russia. Yes, its government admits, Ukraine has taken a humble position by passing the hat, aiming to shore up whatever little support smaller countries could offer. But it also reminds the rest of the world that Ukraine’s war with Russia is a battle for the rules-based world order, and against the threat from other expansionist countries in other regions, including the Indo-Pacific.

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Rappler’s JC Gotinga reports from Ukraine, upon invitation by the Ukraine Crisis Media Center. – Rappler.com

Nagbukas ang ospital noong Mayo 2022 upang “kilalanin ang mga mahahalagang kontribusyon ng mga Pilipinong migranteng manggagawa, at mapaginhawa ang kanilang mga problemang pangkalusugan.”

Maaliwalas at malinis ang ospital – masasabing malayo sa isang tipikal na pampublikong ospital sa bansa. Para nga naman ito sa mga itinuturing “bagong bayani” ng gobyerno. Higit 46,000 na pasyente na ang natulungan ng OFW Hospital.

Pero maraming kama na hindi nagagamit. May mga gamot at procedure din na kailangan pang hanapin ng mga pasyente sa labas.

Handa kaya ang OFW Hospital at ang Department of Migrant Workers na tugunan ang mga inaasahan dito?

Panoorin ang report ni Michelle Abad. – Rappler.com

Reporter: Michelle Abad
Production specialist: Errol Almario
Producers: JC Gotinga and Nina Liu
Editor: Jaene Zaplan
Supervising producer: Beth Frondoso

Sa episode na ito, hihimayin ni Rappler editor-at-large Marites Vitug ang insidenteng nakunan ng cellphone video sa Scarborough Shoal (na tinatawag din na Bajo de Masinloc o Panatag Shoal) sa karagatan ng Zambales. Sinubukan ng ilang miyembro ng China Coast Guard na agawin ang nahuling lamang-dagat ng ilang Pilipinong mangingisda at itaboy sila, pero nanindigan ang mga kababayan natin. At dahil may video sila ng pangyayari, hindi maikakaila ng sinuman ang panghihimasok at pang-aabuso ng China Coast Guard sa kanila. – Rappler.com

Presenter, writer: Marites Vitug
Video editor: Jen Agbuya
Videographer: Jeff Digma
Producer: JC Gotinga
Supervising producer: Beth Frondoso

During the 38th anniversary month of the EDSA People Power Revolution, Rappler revisits President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s return to Hawaii in November 2023, more than three decades since his family’s exile in the island-state as a result of the uprising.

Rappler’s political reporter Dwight de Leon met with longtime anti-Marcos community leaders and diehard loyalists, to better understand how a family ousted by bloodless revolt sought refuge for years on an island that is over 5,000 miles away from the Philippines.

He also sat down with younger generations of Filipino immigrants who, in their small ways, continue to resist, despite being overwhelmed in numbers by a large group of pro-Marcos supporters in Hawaii.

Ang Muling Pagtapak ni Marcos Jr. sa Hawaii (Marcos Jr.’s Return to Hawaii) features interviews with the following people:

• Joe Lazo, a friend of the Marcoses who stuck with the family when they were exiled in Hawaii
• John Wickett, a retired American activist who actively opposed the Marcos family’s presence in Hawaii
• Richard Rothschiller of the Hawaii Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
• Ia Maranon, a graduate student in the University of Hawaii
• Raymond Sebastian, a pro-Marcos campaigner in 2022 and president of the Oahu Filipino Community Council
• Arcy Imasa, co-convener of the Hawaii Filipinos for Truth, Justice, and Democracy
• Dianne Deauna and Andrian Gajigan, graduate students in the University of Hawaii and members of Anakbayan Hawaii
• Rose Churma, a retired architect in Hawaii who drew anti-Marcos cartoons in the 1980s
• Margot Adair, a teacher and a widow of anti-Marcos cartoonist Dick Adair

Nearly four decades since the People Power Revolution, the question remains: Will Filipinos ever learn to rise above myths? – Rappler.com

Reporter/Writer: Dwight de Leon
Producers: Cara Angeline Oliver, JC Gotinga
Videographer: Jeff Digma
Video Editors: Jen Agbuya, Jaene Zaplan
Animation: Guia Abogado
Graphic Artists: Nico Villarete, Alyssa Arizabal
Supervising Producer: Beth Frondoso

MANILA, Philippines – Rodrigo Duterte left the presidency in 2022 with blood on his hands.

His violent war on drugs – waged against the poorest of the poor from 2016 to 2022 – led to more than 6,000 individuals killed in police operations alone. The death toll could reach 30,000 if vigilante-style killings are included, according to estimates by human rights groups.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is investigating the killings for possible crimes against humanity. And the latest developments – the unconfirmed presence of ICC investigators in 2023 in the Philippines and the statements of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on the ICC – are pointing to action that could be unfavorable to Duterte.

On Thursday, February 22, Rappler investigative head Chay Hofileña sits down with justice reporter Jairo Bolledo and Malacañang reporter Dwight de Leon to discuss updates on the ICC and how these could possibly affect the ongoing rift between Marcos and Duterte.

Should Duterte be really afraid of what’s to come? Will Marcos use this to his advantage? – Rappler.com

Watch other Newsbreak Chats episode this 2024:

• Charter change at the center of the Duterte-Marcos war
• Why Filipinos turn to sugar dating
• Martin Romualdez’s expanding power

In this episode, Rappler editor-at-large Marites Vitug examines the Philippine military’s claim that a ‘decisive victory’ over the NPA is around the corner, and the shifting of its focus to external threats like China’s maritime fleet in the West Philippine Sea. How have the Armed Forces of the Philippines evolved with the times? – Rappler.com

Host, writer: Marites Vitug
Producer: JC Gotinga
Video editor: Jen Agbuya
Videographer: Jeff Digma

MANILA, Philippines – The heat is on in the Philippines as the Duterte and Marcos factions take their ongoing rift to the next level.

As if holding two show-of-force events on the same day weren’t enough, former president Rodrigo Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. have also exchanged accusations of drug use. Duterte also threatened that Marcos could suffer the same fate as his father, the late dictator.

At the center of the war is the bid to amend or change the Constitution. Duterte, who once supported charter change during his administration, warned Marcos that he could be ousted from office if he pushes though with his plans.

On Thursday, February 8, Rappler senior multimedia producer JC Gotinga discusses with Rappler political reporters Dwight de Leon, Kaycee Valmonte, and Bonz Magsambol the ins and outs of the ongoing charter change efforts under the Marcos administration, and the bid to block such moves.

Magsambol and Valmonte covers the Senate and House of Representatives respectively, while De Leon follows Malacañang.

What are the possible motives of both sides? How will these play out in the long run? Catch the discussion live on Thursday, February 8, at 4 pm! – Rappler.com

Watch other Newsbreak Chats episode this 2024:

• Why Filipinos turn to sugar dating
• Martin Romualdez’s expanding power