Recently, we invited our senior editor Sheila Coronel and our contributing editor Vicente L. Rafael for a quick chat over at Cafe Adriatico in Malate. Here’s a sneak peek at their insightful conversation.

Sheila Coronel serves as Director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism and professor of professional practice, Columbia University, New York. Ms. Coronel began her reporting career in 1982 on the Philippine Panorama and later joined the Manila Times; she also wrote for the Manila Chronicle. As a stringer for the New York Times and the Guardian (London), she covered seven attempted coups d’etat against the Aquino government. In 1989, she cofounded the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism to promote investigative reporting and groundbreaking reporting on major social issues, including the military, poverty, and corruption. Ms. Coronel has been a Trustee at The International Crisis Group since July 2010. She is the author and editor of more than a dozen books, including Coups, Cults & Cannibals, The Rule-makers: How the Wealthy and Well-Born Dominate Congress, and Pork and other Perks: Corruption and Governance in the Philippines. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism in 2003. Prof. Coronel received an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of the Philippines, and a Master’s in Political Sociology from the London School of Economics.

Vicente L. Rafael is a professor of Southeast Asian History at the University of Washington, Seattle. He received his B.A. in History and Philosophy from Ateneo de Manila University in 1977 and his Ph.D. in History at Cornell University in 1984. Prior to teaching at the University of Washington, Rafael taught at the University of California, San Diego and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Currently, he sits on advisory boards of Cultural Anthropology, Public Culture, and positions.

Produced by The Manila Review
Directed by Sarie Cruz
Shot by Sarie Cruz and Carina Santos
Edited by Sarie Cruz and Mara Coson
Sound by Jason Conanan of Pointbee Multimedia
Music: Angelika by Devendra Banhart