Investigative journalism pushed amid graft scandal claims

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

“Corruption kills.”

This was the stark warning from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) as it urged journalists to intensify their investigative work amid growing concerns over widespread graft.

PCIJ said corruption continues to rob not only public funds but also lives, opportunities, and public trust in institutions.

More than 100 journalists, academics, and media students from across the country joined the 4th National Investigative Journalism Conference (IJCon), which opened Monday and runs through November 15 in Quezon City.

PCIJ Training Director Rowena Paraan stressed the deadly impact of corruption — not only through violence, but also in the quiet erosion of public trust and the theft of opportunities from ordinary Filipinos.

“Corruption kills,” she said.

“It doesn’t always kill in ways that make the news — with bullets or bloodshed,” she added.

“Sometimes, it kills quietly. It kills by stealing from classrooms, from hospitals, from communities that flood year after year. It kills opportunities, trust, and hope.”

Paraan cited cases in which overpriced laptops deprived students of quality education and flood control funds were siphoned off through padded contracts, costing lives during disasters.

“These issues remind us why investigative journalism exists — because corruption is not an abstract issue. It has real victims,” she said.

She emphasized that investigative reporting serves as a vital check on power, helping citizens understand how public funds are managed and empowering them to demand accountability.

“Let’s keep reminding those in power: corruption kills, but truth heals,” Paraan said.

This year’s IJCon carries the theme “Speaking Truth to Power, Adapting to Change,” which centers on how technology, data, and cross-border collaboration can boost investigative reporting amid a shifting information landscape.

Paraan noted that with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), journalists face both new threats and opportunities.

“AI has made deception easier — deepfakes, fabricated documents, fake experts — all designed to confuse and discredit truth,” she said.

“Yet the same technology also gives us tools to investigate faster, to collaborate across borders, and to expose wrongdoing at a scale once difficult to do.”

PCIJ founding executive director Sheila Coronel also emphasized that investigative journalism remains essential despite technological disruption.

“Investigative journalism isn’t dying — it’s evolving,” she said.

“It will survive because democracy cannot exist without it. And because what we do, what you do, cannot be replaced by any technology.”

While AI offers valuable tools to reporters, Coronel said it can never replace the human qualities critical to investigative work — trust-building, ethical judgment, empathy, and courage.

“AI cannot stand up to power the way journalists do,” she said.

“When legal threats come, when powerful people try to kill stories, when sources need protection — that takes courage, principle, backbone. No machine will ever have those.”

She added that democracy depends on human accountability, and journalists play a vital role in keeping people in power answerable to the public.

“Most importantly, AI cannot provide what democracy desperately needs — human accountability,” Coronel said.

“Citizens need to know that real people are watching those in power.”