SULYAP: PCIJ and campaign finance

THE PHILIPPINE Center for Investigative Journalism has always had a fixation with the issue of campaign finance – the relationships between political candidates and their donors or contributors, and how these relationships help define the behavior of politicians in office.

Campaign finance has unfortunately not always been a sexy peg for most mainstream news outfits. Elections have always been more of a horse race in this country, and more attention is often given by the local news on the bickering and fighting among candidates, as well as who won or lost in the polls.

The PCIJ is proud of the fact that in the last two elections, more and more stories in the mainstream news are being devoted to campaign finance issues. These issues include how much candidates spend in their campaigns, as well as the financial and political interests of those who contribute to their campaign kitties. In the last elections, the PCIJ held seminars on campaign finance, not just for national and local journalists, but even for employees and officials of the Commission on Elections.

Today’s Sulyap was produced by PCIJ Multimedia Producer Cong B. Corrales.