'Reporter's Notebook' moves to Saturday time slot beginning March 22

GMA-7’s multi-awarded public affairs program "Reporter’s Notebook" moves to its new timeslot starting this Saturday, March 22.
 
Bannered by award-winning investigative journalists Jiggy Manicad and Maki Pulido, Reporter’s Notebook continues to probe deeper into riveting socio-political issues that are confronting the Philippines.  The program presents fearless investigations on governance and matters of public interest.
 
For its premiere this weekend, Reporter’s Notebook examines sink holes that engulfed houses in Bohol and also looks into an ingredient widely consumed through the world – palm oil.
 




After the devastating earthquake in Visayas last year, gigantic gaping holes appeared in the ground, engulfing entire houses. These dark pits that seem to have appeared out of nowhere are called sink holes.  But what many may not know is that underneath our feet, and indeed underneath our houses, buildings and cities, are tunnels of limestone caves with openings that can give way to sink holes after an earthquake, or from the erosion of rocks over time.
 
Reporter’s Notebook examines the sink holes identified by locals and experts in Bohol, which is about 80% limestone.  Which establishments are at risk?  And what are the authorities doing to safeguard the public? Host Jiggy Manicad traces the underground cave systems where these sink holes are linked to demystify the phenomenon and help inform those who may be living on top of these giant holes.
 




It’s an ingredient found in many supermarket products and is widely consumed throughout the world—palm oil.  But what many consumers may not realize is that palm oil may, at times, possibly be harvested and traded at the expense of small children, who make up 24% of the Philippines’ palm oil workers according to a study by the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR).
 
In Mindanao, which is home to the 90% of the Philippines’ palm oil plantations, Reporter’s Notebook meets a 13-year old who became blind after accidentally being pricked by palm leaves.
 
This is just one of the hazards that children aged 5 to 17 faces in working for the palm oil industry – the backbreaking work of having to carry the palm fruits cause the children to slip and slide, and wound themselves on the mountain slopes.
 
Don’t miss the premiere of Reporter’s Notebook in its new time slot this Saturday, March 22, right after I-Witness on GMA-7.