2025: A Year of Breaking Through

If 2024 was a challenge, 2025 was our breakthrough.

Looking back, it was a productive year marked by victories that, levity aside, no other local news organization has achieved in recent memory. We did not just report the news this year; we strengthened the very foundations of how we deliver it.

Our biggest milestone was being chosen as a grantee of the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM). Apart from funding, it is a global validation of our work. The IFPIM, co-chaired by Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa and media titan Sir Mark Thompson, is the only multilateral fund dedicated to saving public interest media in markets like ours. This grant gives Daily Guardian the independence to innovate, the flexibility to adapt, and the muscle to continue serving you, our readers, without compromising our editorial integrity.

But we didn’t stop at securing our future; we fought for the future of the industry.

Through the Indo-Pacific Media Resilience (IPMR) program – a collaboration between Internews and the European Union – we took a frontline role in addressing Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI). We had the privilege of training journalists across Southeast Asia to spot and counter disinformation and apply them to local journalism.

We also took the fight to Big Tech. Last November in Kuala Lumpur, Malysia, Daily Guardian joined a strategic working group to tackle the “decoupling” of newsrooms and social media platforms. We are pushing back against “Truth Decay,” advocating for a digital ecosystem where verified, credible news is prioritized over sensationalism and clickbait. We are done asking for transparency; we are negotiating for a “Credibility Premium.”

The Kuala Lumpur event also gave our editor-in-chief, Francis Allan L. Angelo, the chance to join in the biennial Global Investigative Journalism Conference 2025 (GIJC25), which is a first for an Ilonggo journalist from an Ilonggo news organization.

Co-hosted by the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) and Malaysiakini, GIJC25 marked the first time the world’s largest gathering of investigative journalists was held in Asia.

On the national front, we strengthened our alliances. Through the News Collab Community with Rappler, SunStar, and the Philippine Press Institute (PPI), we launched journalist-led chat rooms. This initiative reduces our reliance on volatile tech algorithms and allows us to talk directly to you, our community, in a space built for trust, not traffic.

Finally, the industry took notice of our craft.

Our reporter, Rjay Zuriaga Castor, brought home a Special Citation for News Writer at the 13th Makatao Awards and was recognized at the Idlab Awards for his work in science reporting. Furthermore, for the second time, the Philippine Press Institute honored Daily Guardian as the Best in Business & Economic Reporting.

These awards confirm what we strive for daily: integrity, clarity, and impact.

2025 was the year Daily Guardian went global in its partnerships and deeper in its local commitment. We are grateful for your trust, and as we move forward, our promise remains the same: to serve the public interest, no matter the cost.

Padayon!