|
The question of impunity in the Philippines has a special meaning for Al Jazeera's Veronica Pedrosa. In 1971 she and her family were forced into exile by the Marcos regime after her mother, also a journalist, wrote an unauthorised biography of the then first lady Imelda Marcos.
Imelda has never been successfully convicted despite hundreds of cases of corruption and human rights abuses being brought against her. A commission that was formed to find the missing millions allegedly stolen by the Marcoses will soon be abolished, partly because past commissioners themselves are said to have profited from their positions.
Recently, Imelda was elected to Congress and her son, Ferdinand Jr, is tipped to run for the presidency in 2016. With the Marcoses rising again in Philippine politics, Veronica Pedrosa tells the story of her family's exile and their campaign against Marcos rule. She examines the Philippine authorities' failure to bring the powerful to account for their alleged misdeeds and confronts Imelda herself about her past and her future political ambitions.
The programme will also examine the actual impact of relative freedom of expression in the Philippines. It is one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists to work. The media have not strengthened democracy; instead they have become political instruments and pawns.
|