A student and a faculty member at the College of Development Communication took part in a 2-day training to equip journalists with knowledge and skills in documenting and reporting infrastructure investments and projects, held in Indang, Cavite, this April.

Entitled “Strengthening Transparency in Infrastructure Development through Environmental Reporting in Southeast Asia (STRIDES),” this initiative of Lyf Solutions Inc. and the Philippine Network of Environmental Journalists, with support from Internews’ Earth Journalism Network (EJN), put journalists around the Philippines together for an upskilling workshop covering in-depth story writing and investigative journalism techniques.

This initiative highlights the importance of reporting on infrastructure development, exposing its impacts on the environment and human rights, raising public awareness, and holding power accountable.

In this event, Carl Daniel Patambang, a first-year student, and Mark Lester del Mundo Chico, a faculty member at the College of Development Communication and director of public relations at UPLB, proposed their story idea of focusing on small projects closer to communities over the big-ticket projects under the Build Better More of the current administration.

They aim to pay attention to the infrastructure concerns around the province of Laguna, which includes looking into the cases of road repairs, blocked access roads, canals, short bridges, and pathways, as well as the experiences of the people adjacent to these.

Among the speakers in this fellowship was TJ Burgonio, editor-at-large of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, who discussed the tips and techniques to effectively report critical stories while delving into the current infrastructure in the country essential for writing such.

Additionally, Gerg Cahiles, former CNN news correspondent and now editor-at-large of Fyt Media, talked about broadcast reporting, and Isagani Caspe, multimedia producer of Fyt Media, imparted knowledge on the basics of producing shorts for social media amid the changes in information delivery today.

According to the organizers, the participants will have the opportunity to receive a USD 640 story grant for their pitches as part of the project of the Earth Journalism Network. (Carl Daniel Patambang)