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…of journalism, of scoops, of solid stories, and of our community…of journalism, of scoops, of solid stories, and of our community

[Inside the Newsroom] The things we do for love…

Author: Rappler

Source: Rappler

2026/02/15 10:00

7 min read

There’s a post that’s been going around for years now about a funny disclaimer by a journalist if you happen to be interested in dating her: Don’t be alarmed by her browsing history. You’ll find searches for where a killer would hide a body, what are the possible escape routes from a particular city, how to pierce through layers of bank accounts used in money laundering — things like that. But, relax, the joke goes, those are for her investigative reports, and in no way indicative that she’s some lunatic, serial killer, or scammer.

Okay, if you didn’t find it humorous (uptight, hmp!), welcome to the newsroom! This newsletter — where Rappler “[shares] stories, both light and serious, from the people who make sense of the news” — should be your initiation into a world where everything is taken seriously. Too seriously, in fact, that we probably have a strange sense of what’s amusing — we laugh recounting the risks we’ve taken, the dangers we’ve had a brush with, the “I surprised even myself” split-second decisions we made just to put a story together.

(I tried to go back to articles I’ve written in February over the years, and, my, I’m truly one who can’t be lighthearted even during the month or week of love or when writing about relationships: Weddings in the time of the coronavirus, Would you date a journalist – a Rappler journalist?, and from the upcoming Newsbreak magazine archives: “Backstreet Business” about the abortion industry, and “Only for the Rich” about the economics of annulment.)

I’m Miriam Grace A. Go, Rappler’s managing editor, and that intro is my way of asking: Indulge us this Valentine weekend as we recall what cautions some of us threw into the wind, and what lengths we’ve gone to, for the love of journalism, of scoops, of solid stories.

Over the years, you’ve watched the videos of Rappler journalists being harassed or facing danger while doing their job: Pia Ranada being prevented from entering Malacañang, where she was an accredited press corps member; Lian Buan being shoved by people who knew she would be asking difficult questions of presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the 2022 campaign; JC Gotinga being blocked by vloggers who didn’t like his scrutiny of mayoral candidate Sarah Discaya in 2025.

You haven’t heard, though, of behind-the-scenes enterprise by reporters and researchers. So here goes…

On election night in 2025, Reinnard Balonzo was stationed at the Albay capitol to report on the proclamation of winners, and was scheduled to go to the Daraga night market after to do interviews for his story on how vote buying had been normalized in the province. Between those two assignments, he got word that one of the grandfathers who raised him had died. He held himself together and went home only after his coverage.
Nad Balonzo has been working on infrastructure corruption in Albay. In the beginning, though, he only had leads from various tipsters, but didn’t know how and where exactly to begin his research, interviews, and paper trail. After some time, a source in the construction industry in Bicol finally talked — for background purposes only — but not until Nad had to put up with the source who wanted to drink until 3 am.
If Jairo Bolledo were to have a show or write a book, we would title it “Dispatch from a Rescue Truck.” Here’s why: On September 4, 2024, he had to be at the House of Representatives to cover the quad committee hearing on Philippine offshore gaming operators. But a tropical cyclone hit Luzon and caused flooding in his hometown. Lined up for a jeepney ride for two hours, no luck. A rescue truck deployed by the local government arrived, and he jumped on it. Halfway, news broke that Alice Guo was arrested in Indonesia. So there, while standing in a packed space of weary commuters, he called sources to confirm the news, broke it on Rappler channels, and typed away the story with one hand.
During the pandemic, the Commission on Elections was a “notoriously difficult” office to cover. The spokesperson’s office routinely ignored requests for documents, but Dwight de Leon wanted to make sure a specific document existed and that even just one line in an explainer could stand scrutiny. He braved the lockdown (but followed protocols) in the early 2020s, and went to another Comelec department that was willing to give a copy of the memo that had never been uploaded online. It was on a floor that was off-limits to reporters, so a guard caught, reprimanded, and escorted him out. He got the document — that’s what mattered.
“No super wild story,” says Delfin Dioquino, but imagine coverages like this: In the last Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, where he was part of the Philippines’ reportorial pool, he traveled with fellow reporters nearly 500 kilometers by land EVERY SINGLE DAY to catch the championship matches of several sports which featured Philippine athletes. EVERY SINGLE DAY, they would leave the hotel at around 5 am and returned at 2 am the next day — leaving them with less than three hours of sleep!
Jodesz Gavilan takes being the senior researcher to heart — so much so that she went beyond documents and interviews for one last confirmation that former House speaker Martin Romualdez is linked to the ownership of a mansion in Spain. By “beyond” we mean she watched hundreds of TikTok videos and social media posts to map out how Romualdez was linked to entrepreneur Crystal Jacinto, who happens to really like posting online. Jodesz says, “That process showed how seemingly mundane online content (what Gen Zs call brain rot content) can become crucial evidence when pieced together carefully.”
John Sitchon had been helping investigate how educational materials that the Department of Education had paid for were not delivered by a tiny logistics company. They were kept in warehouses in Cebu and Pampanga. All documents had been secured, all facts about the deal had been confirmed, we had talked to sources, and the final confirmation we needed was to see the supplies actually in the warehouses. So what did John do in Mandaue City? He climbed a wall, stuck his feet and back to remain steady, and stretched his arm through the grills to take a photo of the inside of the unguarded warehouse.

I hope that like us, you will find these adventures amusing after the fact. But I also want us, both journalists and the audience, to realize that, in the end, the reason we do these things is for the love of our community. It’s the issues that affect the community’s life — the issues that matter to you, the issues you want to fight for — that we want to move heaven and earth to uncover.

What issues do you want us to pursue? You can send us leads via the investigative@rappler.com email and our #CorruptionWatch channel on the Rappler app. You can also donate to our investigative fund or sign up for Rappler+ membership to support the work that we do.