TDN Budget Watch
Where does our local money go?
Follow the public money through audit reports, project-site documentation, and conversations with officials and citizens.
Explore the Budget Watch dashboard ↗Rooted in Eastern VisayasLocal stories.
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From public spending to the everyday concerns of our communities, we ask questions, listen closely, and make room for voices that need to be heard.
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TDN Budget Watch
FOLLOWING PUBLIC RESOURCES IN EASTERN VISAYAS
Budget Watch · Analysis
Governance Seals, Unfinished Projects: What Three Years of Tacloban Audits Reveal
COA’s 2023–2025 findings identify recurring weaknesses in project readiness, implementation, and disaster-fund management. Understanding these alongside DILG recognition requires looking beyond award announcements.
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Audit report · Tacloban City
COA flags ₱85.8 million in Tacloban education, trust funds placed in time deposits without council approval
COA flagged ₱85.8 million in Tacloban education and trust funds placed in time deposits without prior council approval. TDN examines the findings and city response.
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TDN Insights · Commentary
The people’s budget needs local watchdogs, too
Public money deserves public attention. How can Eastern Visayas citizens request records, follow local projects, and sustain oversight beyond an audit report?
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Special Analysis · Tacloban City
Three Years of Audit Findings: Are Tacloban’s Development and Disaster Councils Delivering Results?
What corrective actions followed COA’s findings? TDN examines the responsibilities of development and disaster councils, unfinished projects, and the records citizens should be able to examine.
Read the special analysis ↗Your say.Explore the 2027 local budget guide →
Citizen guide · Eastern Visayas
How LGU budgets are made—and where citizens come in
Search the budget process, explore the five phases, understand financial terms, and prepare a citizen inquiry. Includes TDN’s transparency observations on Tacloban City and Leyte province.
Open the interactive guide ↗
Analysis · Eastern Visayas
Beyond Budget Approval: How citizens can demand accountability
Who chooses spending priorities? What did the council examine? Follow the records from approved allocations to the services and projects delivered.
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Biliran Province · Feature Analysis
Biliran’s ₱62.12 million in unspent disaster funds: What happened next?
An audit summary raises questions about planning, preparedness, and subsequent action. The balance is for the end of 2025; updated utilization remains to be established.
Read the Budget Watch reportLatest news
REPORTING FROM EASTERN VISAYAS
News · Eastern Visayas
PRO8 chief pledges open media access, highlights SAFE Eastern Visayas–Call 911
Cardiño meets with local journalists to discuss police–media relations, verification, and public service
Read the story ↗Featured reporting
ENVIRONMENT · COMMUNITY · ACCOUNTABILITY
Feature · Yolanda remembrance
Restoring names, answering years of uncertainty: New hope for Yolanda families
A reported advance in DNA analysis offers new hope for Yolanda families, while questions remain about identification results, burial records, and assistance.
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Feature · Undas reflection
Remembering the Dead, Reflecting on How We Live
An Undas reflection by Rowel C. Montes on remembrance, Christian hope, growing old with dignity, and the good we can do for our communities today.
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Feature · Humanitarian communication
WHEN RADIO BECAME A LIFELINE: Health Cluster brings critical information to Yolanda-affected communities
Through a humanitarian radio program launched in January 2014, health officials and humanitarian partners brought public health information, disease prevention advisories, and community concerns directly to survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda.
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Personal feature · Yolanda survivor series
Super Typhoon Yolanda: What We Lived, What We Must Pass On
One survivor’s journey through uncertainty, humanitarian communication, and the responsibility to help the next generation understand.
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Feature · Community voices
A City That Makes Room for Its Young
An appeal for affordable study spaces sparks a conversation about libraries, playgrounds and everyday life in Tacloban.
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Special Reports · Media Transparency
Who holds the watchdog accountable?
TDN opens its journalism, resources, institutional challenges, and commitments to public scrutiny in its inaugural Public Accountability Report.
Read the accountability report
TDN Special Report · Climate & preparedness
El Niño: How prepared is Eastern Visayas—and where will disaster funds go?
Local preparations, irrigation pressures, and the questions TDN Budget Watch will ask about disaster funding and services reaching communities.
Read the special report
TDN Special News Analysis & Feature
Homonhon’s mining wealth: Who benefits, who bears the cost?
Mining revenues, water security, and community concerns: a closer look at the questions facing Homonhon Island and the evidence needed to answer them.
Read the full featureThe stories we pursue
LOCAL QUESTIONS. SHARED CONCERNS.Making public spending understandable
TDN Budget Watch examines COA annual audit reports and asks what public spending means for the services and projects communities rely on.
Visit Budget Watch ↗Our coasts. Our communities. Our future.
Reporting on mangroves, coastal livelihoods, disaster preparedness, and the environmental questions shaping life in Eastern Visayas.
Follow our reporting ↓A place for people to be heard
Conversations with citizens, civil society, and public officials on local governance, women’s participation, and peacebuilding.
Discover Community Matters ↓Community Matters · Monday EditionConversations
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With Rowel Montes · Taklub Digital News
Community Matters Podcast — Monday Edition
Watch the Monday Edition of Community Matters with Rowel Montes, published here on November 2, 2026.
Explore TDN Budget Watch ↗Watch on YouTube
If the player is unavailable, watch the episode directly on YouTube.
Previous episode: Community Matters Friday — October 30, 2026
Previous episode: Community Matters Wednesday — October 28, 2026
Previous episode: Community Matters Monday — October 26, 2026
Previous episode: Community Matters Friday — Tacloban’s Unfinished Projects
Behind the newsroomLocal roots.
Local roots.
A public purpose.
Taklub Digital News is a digital news outlet based in Tacloban City, serving Tacloban and Eastern Visayas. Founded and led by journalist Rowel C. Montes, TDN creates space for local voices and asks questions that hold government accountable.
Our mission is to strengthen community engagement through news coverage, informed discussions, and active civic participation. We report in English, Waray-Waray, and Cebuano through articles, interviews, Community Matters, and interactive digital content.
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YOUR VOICE. YOUR COMMUNITY.Follow our reporting, join Community Matters conversations, or send a story lead or correction request.