In the wee hours of August 10, 2020, several men in ski masks stormed an apartment in Quezon City and brutally killed a 72-year-old man. The victim was Randall Echanis, a peace consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. This podcast digs deep into his murder and why his family wants an independent investigation.

Matters of Fact

EP 41: The Murder of Randy Echanis

Medical frontliners in the Philippines sounded the alarm over the government's "losing battle" against the COVID-19 pandemic, only to be scolded by President Rodrigo Duterte for making their concerns public. In this podcast, Christian Esguerra sits down with former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral on the doctors' appeal for a "definitive" action plan to address the health crisis.

EP 40: Distress call

This week's podcast talks about how the Philippine government's shutdown of the largest media network in the country, and its perceived mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic, may finally penetrate the so-called Teflon of Rodrigo Duterte's presidency. Christian Esguerra sits down with political science professor Antonio Contreras.

EP 39: Duterte's Teflon finally fading?

President Rodrigo Duterte boasted of "dismantling oligarchy" days after making good on his promise to shut down the largest broadcast network in the Philippines. This podcast examines his battle against oligarchic families and why he doesn't have to look far to find them. Host Christian Esguerra sits down with political science professor Julio Teehankee, visiting fellow at Kyoto University's Center for Southeast Asian Studies.

EP 38: Duterte's 'War' on Oligarchy

This week's episode takes a deep dive into news bias, objectivity, false balance, and other issues in journalism, which came under scrutiny during a Philippine congressional hearing into the franchise application of shuttered broadcast network ABS-CBN. Host Christian Esguerra is joined by fellow journalists and educators, Felipe Salvosa II and Danilo Arao.

Journalism 101 for Politicians

This episode tackles the intended--and unintended--consequences of on a new law against terrorism introduced in the Phlippines, 3 years after ISIS attacked the Islamic city of Marawi. Christian Esguerra sat down with lawyer Benedicto Bacani, executive director of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance, a Mindanao-based think tank promoting peace and studying the roots of violent extremism in the southern Philippines.

Duterte signs new Anti-Terrorism Law

In this episode, human rights lawyer Jenny Domino joins Christian Esguerra for a discussion on Facebook's role in public discourse, including its new independent oversight board that will review hard cases of content moderation on the platform.

EP 35: Facebook and Free Speech

Three years since the Marawi siege, the Philippine government is set to pass a tougher law against terrorist groups such as ISIS. But can it also be used to crack down on legitimate dissent? In this week's podcast, Christian Esguerra sits down with Rommel Banlaoi, executive director of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence, and Terrorism Studies.

EP 34: Philippines gets tough on terrorism

In this episode looks deeper into the communication strategies by the Philippine government in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Christian Esguerra sits down with Dr. Tony Leachon, an adviser to the inter-agency task force on emerging infectious diseases.

EP 33: COVID-19 crisis communication

In this episode, Christian Esguerra sits down with Dr. Benjamin Co, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist, to examine whether existing quarantine measures are working against the new coronavirus in the Philippines.

EP 32: Flattening the Curve

Veteran journalists Vergel Santos, John Nery, and Felipe Salvosa join Christian Esguerra to dissect the implications of the Philippine government’s shut down of ABS-CBN, the largest media network in the country and the frequent target of President Rodrigo Duterte’s attacks.

EP 31: ABS-CBN Shutdown

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced a 50-million-peso reward to encourage Filipino scientists to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. But the process is way more complicated and expensive. Christian Esguerra sits down with a group of pharmaceutical companies in this week's podcast. 

EP 30: How to develop a COVID-19 Vaccine

In this week’s episode, a Philippine mayor joins Christian Esguerra to talk about the struggles of local governments battling the COVID-19 pandemic in the front lines. Rex Gatchalian is the mayor of Valenzuela City, the first to conduct localized mass testing for the killer virus.

EP 29: A Mayor’s Playbook vs COVID-19

In this podcast, Christian Esguerra sits down with an epidemiologist and infectious diseases specialist to discuss the complicated process of developing a cure for the new coronavirus, and how doctors are managing COVID-19 patients in the meantime.

EP 28: Search for a COVID-19 Cure

In this episode, Christian Esguerra speaks with Dr. Eric Tayag on the science of epidemiology and the value of mass testing for the new coronavirus. Dr. Tayag, an infectious diseases specialist, served as Philippines’ chief epidemiologist for 10 years.

EP 27: ‘Disease detectives’ vs COVID-19

'Matters of Fact' is the podcast edition of the daily political talk segment, hosted by veteran journalist Christian Esguerra, on ANC’s morning newscast, 'Early Edition.' #ANCPodcast

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