Power, Planet, and the Press: Journalists at the Forefront of the Planetary Health Crisis

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

Sunway University, Malaysia—September 2025

In a world where environmental collapse and human well-being are inextricably linked, the truth is often buried under layers of political jargon, corporate spin, and fragmented global agreements. This was the battlefield explored at the recent Capacity Development and Training Workshop on Planetary Health and Power (Workshop 03/25), where thirty journalists from across Asia gathered to forge a new approach to climate reporting.

The central theme was stark: the planetary health crisis is not merely an environmental challenge—it’s a crisis of power, politics, and accountability. The two-day workshop, hosted by Sunway University and supported by partners like the Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA) and Internews, aimed to equip media professionals with the tools to decode complex intergovernmental processes and translate global policy into urgent local narratives.

Unmasking the Power Imbalances in Global Governance

The training didn't just cover the mechanics of global summits like COPs; it challenged the assumption that these are neutral spaces. Expert speakers reinforced the idea that negotiations are "arenas where economic and political interests compete," and their outcomes often reflect the power imbalances among member states.

The UN's Strength and Weakness: The United Nations remains the only global platform for collective action, yet it is "only as strong as its member states". Journalists were urged to look beyond the diplomatic veneer and investigate the gap between high-level commitments and real-world action.

The Shadow of Finance: Finance emerged as the defining issue of trust. Participants learned that climate funding for developing countries often arrives as conditional loans that deepen debt burdens, rather than grants. This financial architecture, experts stressed, must be interrogated to expose disparities between what is pledged and who ultimately benefits.

Challenging the 'Global North' Narrative: A critical takeaway was the urgent need to decolonise storytelling. This means challenging the dominance of Western perspectives, using accessible language, and foregrounding local and Indigenous voices over diplomatic soundbites.

Health as the Ultimate Narrative Weapon

In the face of 'COP fatigue' and complex science, the workshop identified health as the most effective and relatable entry point for climate storytelling.

Framing stories through the lens of mental, physical, or societal health allows journalists to instantly connect the planetary crisis to lived human experience. Discussions highlighted how environmental crises manifest as health emergencies:

Extreme Heat and Mental Health: The complexity and urgency of issues like extreme heat affecting brain and reproductive health, and the stigma around eco-anxiety and climate-linked PTSD were spotlighted.

Data Gaps as the Story: Journalists were encouraged to see the absence of reliable data on issues like mental health or local adaptation impacts as a story of systemic neglect that warrants investigation.

Beyond the Hospital: Coverage should move past simply discussing hospitals and infrastructure to address systemic issues like pollution and corporate accountability. Journalists must scrutinise "health washing"—where progress in the health sector is showcased in isolation to appear more meaningful than it is.

The Fight for Truth in the Age of Spin

A recurring concern was the severe erosion of trust caused by disinformation, greenwashing, and selective reporting. The sessions provided concrete strategies for the media's watchdog role:

Following the Money: Participants were advised to investigate the financial transactions and political networks behind greenwashing claims. Tender documents and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) were cited as key sources to uncover false claims and verify facts with independent experts.

Continuous Coverage: A core lesson was that COPs and other summits cannot be treated as isolated events. Meaningful journalism requires sustained coverage before, during, and after negotiations to track policy implementation, financial follow-through, and community impact.

The Simulation Crucible: Two newsroom simulations, including one focused on managing disinformation in a post-COP biodiversity scenario, forced participants to apply critical thinking under intense pressure. These exercises demonstrated that effective environmental journalism demands not just factual accuracy, but also editorial judgment and ethical sensitivity.

A Call for Accountable and Actionable Journalism

By the workshop's close, the thirty participating journalists from outlets spanning India to the Philippines left with a clear mandate: their power lies in distilling complexity into clarity, amplifying marginalised voices, and sustaining pressure for accountability long after the headlines fade.

Survey feedback confirmed the impact: 100 percent of participants would recommend the training, and 92 percent expressed confidence in understanding and reporting on intergovernmental processes. The blend of conceptual grounding and hands-on newsroom practice was cited as especially effective in translating complex policy dynamics into actionable story ideas.

The message was clear: While international negotiations are complicated, the journalism that tracks them must be simple, relentless, and firmly rooted in justice and human resilience.

DepEd calls for full funding of education mandates to address functional illiteracy

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

PASIG CITY, 3 November 2025 - The Department of Education (DepEd) is calling for the continued fulfillment of the Constitution’s mandate that education remain the highest budgetary priority, emphasizing that addressing the country’s literacy challenges requires funding that matches the actual costs and scale of its expanding responsibilities. 

DepEd noted that while its mandate has steadily broadened since its inception, resources have not always kept pace. Certain landmark laws —such as the ARAL Program Act, the Career Progression System for Public School Teachers and School Leaders, the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act, and the Alternative Learning System Act—were enacted lacking or without sustained financial support, making implementation difficult. 

“While responsibilities grew, resources did not always follow,” Education Secretary Sonny Angara said. “We have been spread too thinly. We must reclaim our focus on foundational learning, consistent with the intentions of the first EDCOM in the 1990s.” 

This cumulative burden, which has stretched the Department’s resources and impacted its focus, was a central finding presented during the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) hearing on October 28, 2025.  

During the hearing, Sec. Angara reaffirmed DepEd’s commitment to focus on functional literacy and improved learning outcomes, as directed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. even as the Department grapples with multiplied mandates, limited funds, stretched coordination, and resource gaps. 

To unburden the agency, DepEd is playing an active role in shaping the Education and Workforce Development Group (EWDG) under the Office of the President, which will serve as the coordinating body for education and labor agencies. The Department has also assigned its Executive Committee members to lead engagement in high-impact and “mission-aligned” coordinating bodies only such as inclusive education, education-to-employment efforts, and curriculum review and revision.  

To support its push for foundational learning, DepEd successfully procured 60 new textbook titles in the past two years alone, compared with 27 titles from 2012 to 2023, representing a 122% increase. Since assuming office, Sec. Angara has also pursued forward-looking initiatives to build more classrooms, including Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and flexible participation options for local government units (LGUs) and civil society organizations (CSOs). 

These efforts are reinforced by reforms already underway within DepEd, such as the rollout of the streamlined and strengthened K to 10 and Senior High School curriculum, nationwide teacher and school head training programs, and the integration of education technology and digitalization across schools and divisions. To ease administrative burdens, DepEd has also deployed additional administrative officers in schools, allowing teachers to concentrate more on teaching rather than paperwork. 

While pursuing long-term solutions to fulfill its mandates, DepEd has also taken immediate steps to sustain programs that remain lacking in funds. The Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program) alone requires ₱9.6 billion, with a ₱3.3 billion funding gap for 2026. To keep the program running, the Department reprogrammed internal savings and allocated ₱1.8 billion to cover the printing of tutorial modules and teacher training for its initial rollout. 

“Sustained reform requires sustained support. We must never forget our bottom line: a Filipino learner who can read and comprehend,” Sec. Angara added.  

Olazo pays tribute to Monet in “Light Receptacle Café”

Wazzup Pilipinas?!

 

Filipino artist Jonathan Olazo’s latest art exhibition “Light Receptacle Café” is a beautiful reimagining of French master Claude Monet’s devotion to light and time, filtered through a contemporary Filipino lens.

The show, which opened on October 18 at the Alliance Française de Manille, is a testament to Olazo’s distinct artistic voice.

Olazo explores the enduring fascination with luminosity that one of the founding fathers of Impressionism championed through his layered acrylic and mixed-media works.

Curated by his wife, painter conservator Lyn Yusi-Olazo, the exhibition invites visitors to experience light not just as a subject, but as a metaphor.

Olazo’s process, as described by his curator, is as dynamic as his art. He gathers nuances and signs from his daily life and his surroundings, bringing them into his paintings. He even approaches art like a music DJ, sampling visual cues and collaging them onto his canvases.

Art patrons were quick to applaud the artist’s daring and personal vision. Rosita Lara “Otty” Lumagui, managing director of Worldwide Resource Solutions Philippines Inc. and CEO of Bocca, the event’s food sponsor, praised how Olazo’s “creations oscillate between a vigorous masculinity and a delicate femininity, entirely dependent on the viewer’s register and interpretation.”

AFM executive director Olivier Dintinger noted how the powerful paintings transported him back to Paris and the Musée Marmottan, where he first admired Monet’s work.

Dr. Eric Zerrudo, executive director of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, connected the work to art history, citing the discourse of how Filipino heroes encountered Impressionism in Paris in the 19th century. He praised Olazo for capturing the same phenomenon of “light and temporality.”

Architect and art advocate Michael “Mico” Liwanag shared that he has witnessed Olazo “grow as an artist, always pushing boundaries,” noting that his work ethic is an inspiration.

Olazo is not only influenced by French painting but also by French intellectual life. He is a fan of French critics and writers, especially Roland Barthes and Charles Baudelaire. He cites Baudelaire’s studies on modern life and the concept of the flaneur – someone who finds poetry and beauty in the mundane.

Olazo also finds beauty in the photographs he took around Metro Manila, drawing a comparison between those images and the “calm and majesty” of Monet’s famous works.

The exhibition is a must-see for those who appreciate abstraction, movement, and the philosophical musings found in the passage of time.

Olazo’s work allows the audience to experience what happens when light is allowed to tell its own stories.

The “Light Receptacle Café” runs until November 15 at the Alliance Française de Manille, 209 Nicanor Garcia Street, Bel-Air II, Makati City. For inquiries, email cultural.afmanille@gmail.com.