Since its launch in December of 2021, Manila Bay Beach has operated under a strict ethics policy that intends not only respect for the Filipino culture, but also a high level of integrity regardless our editorial independence and journalism, as well as any future business endeavors. Earning and keeping the trust of our audience is, and always will be, at the core of the Manila Bay Beach mission. In a world where information is distributed across countless platforms and formats, it’s more important than ever to promote clear ethical guidelines that allow audiences to know where that information comes from and whether it can be trusted.

As an American-born individual (soon to file his Declaration of Intention with the Bureau of Justice [as is required by Naturalization Law] for Filipino citizenship), I understand that I am — currently — nothing more than a visitor in the Philippines. Although I have been living at Manila’s historic baywalk for more than seven years straight, it remains my personal mission to continue to learn Tagalog, as well as continue to further immerse myself in and more deeply understand the Filipino culture, all while happily mingling with the Filipino population. Furthermore, as a site of enjoyment and chill vibes (and us knowing our place), it is not the place nor intent of Manila Bay Beach to engage in any form of political commentary or activity. 

We strive to abide by the following ideals, standards and guidelines, all of which meet and many of which exceed standards in the industry, and all of which also firmly adhere to the logical and responsible trust-but-verify approach to any and all information, regardless of gravity, earnestness, sincerity or source.

Manila Bay Beach is clearly aware that there exist individuals who both approve and disapprove of the beach/beautification project, more specifically the use of dolomite on the beach. Regarding this issue, we here at Manila Bay Beach clearly and loudly do not hide from our excitement and support for the beach — because mostly, I simply love beaches! However, that said, everyone here at Manila Bay Beach promises to uphold the previously stated ethics and standards and accurately report news that may be both flattering or unflattering to Manila Bay, the Manila Baywalk, and most importantly, as it has been the most controversial, the Dolomite Beach. This commitment to fair and balanced, factual reporting from a position of integrity — sharing positions and opinions from and regarding both sides of a controversial topic — has already been demonstrated throughout the site.

Further, Manila Bay Beach editors will not engage in the political discussion surrounding the Dolomite Beach. The focus has been — and remains — solely on the cleanliness of Manila Bay. This, also, is currently demonstrated throughout the site: we will simply continue to state the facts as they are revealed to and after they are confirmed — independently — by us.

Whereas many other media platforms have interest in disseminating propaganda, fake news and/or disinformation for political gain, Manila Bay Beach has no interest in propaganda, fake news, disinformation, emotional manipulation and/or engaging — in a dishonest manner — with any of our potential or our readers’ individual cognitive biases: Manila Bay Beach only has interest in providing facts — so you have the ability to evaluate the information and arrive at your own conclusions. Again, we fully realize and acknowledge our content is almost exclusively light in nature; regardless, we strongly stand by these standards.

Although Manila Bay Beach is not a political endeavor and insists on avoiding related topics, our most valuable asset, is the independence that allows us to publish stories — regardless of the weight of the topic — without fear or hesitation.

We are able to enjoy this independence because every member of our editorial team is required to follow a strict code of conduct which is essentially and simply this: integrity and honesty. 

As we start our growth, here are the core guidelines in our code of conduct:

• We do not and will not accept preconditions for coverage of a story that require us to say certain things;
• We do not and will not give subjects of our reporting the ability to preview or approve interview questions, nor do we allow them to review our stories before we publish;
• We do not and will not allow manilabaybeach.com writers to cover people or companies where they have a personal conflict or invested interest: personal, financial or otherwise;
• We do not and will not make paid endorsements of any kind;
• Unless disclosed, we do not and will not personally invest in companies or products we cover; and
• Our editorial team does and will not produce paid content, ever.

In addition to standards that preserve our independence,  Manila Bay Beach and its representatives are expected to abide by industry-standard ethical guidelines for publishing. This means that our editorial team takes great care to learn the truth and report it, protect sources, minimize risk of harm, and strive for accuracy and honesty in everything we publish. We use the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics as a baseline for the professional conduct of our editorial staff.

We at Manila Bay Beach fully realize that our mostly light-natured content and topics may not even warrant the above code of ethics; regardless, we feel it is in the best interests of our audience that we operate by, respect and meet such high standards. 

Although Manila Bay Beach is currently — at launch — a non-profit venture, it stands to reason that if sourcing locally would inevitably increase our eventual bottom line even a little (especially regarding beneficial public relations campaigns focusing on improper waste disposal), it would certainly do the same for suppliers and manufacturers in our area. We want nothing more than for Manila Bay Beach to be a welcome addition to the local economy and also be of direct benefit to our neighbors who live right here in Malate — as well as extending to those residing in the greater City of Manila and Metro Manila, as well as even possibly reaching those in the 7000+ outer islands (and their communities) located throughout the Philippines. 

Localizing our supply chain also presents an opportunity to do our small part in effectively protecting the environment. Although we acknowledge, we are a very small venture, if we reduce our shipping and storage we also reduce emissions and energy usage. We believe that every sensible contribution — even those as minimal as ours may be — is worth the effort. Sourcing locally not only allows us to contribute to the ideal of increased green manufacturing both locally and globally, but it will ultimately help manilabaybeach.com build positive brand awareness, as well as consumer confidence — namely and most importantly, your confidence and trust in us.

As we have already demonstrated through our actions, anything and everything Manila Bay Beach pursues has been, is and will be locally-created, locally-sourced and/or locally-manufactured. Malate is the home of Manila Bay Beach, and we intend to — in every way we can imagine and implement — positively contribute to both its immediate and greater communities.

Beaches transcend all dimensions of diversity – those you can see, and those you can’t. Hence — to be direct and to the point — everyone here at manilabaybeach.com supports inclusivity.

We are committed to supporting — both publicly and privately, in both our words and actions — children, senior citizens, people with disabilities (PWDs), and all individuals, regardless of their race, religion, political affiliation/s, sexual orientation and/or gender identity and/or expression.

Let’s all enjoy the beach at Manila Bay together.

Manila Bay Beach is a multimedia brand that is distributed across many platforms, including our own WordPress site on the Internet, Radio.co, YouTube, Rumble, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, with the possibility of adding other platforms in the future.

Our editorial standards apply to all of our platforms.

If in the future, Manila Bay Beach does, on occasion, distribute sponsored editorial content and paid branded content through our distributed platforms, they will be clearly labeled as “Presented by” (for editorial sponsorships) or “Paid Content” (for branded content) in the post. Once again, to be perfectly clear: Manila Bay Beach does not currently engage in such activity nor does it have plans to do so.

Despite making every effort to be accurate in our reporting, we may possibly and unintentionally get something wrong. If we discover a mistake in a story, our editors will promptly issue a correction that removes the inaccurate information and adds a notice of correction that explains the error. In some cases, like if an inaccuracy is contained in a video, we may have to remove the original piece of content and replace it with a version in which the error is omitted. If replacement content is not possible, the original piece of content will be 100% removed.

Sometimes more information about a story we’ve published becomes available that either continues the narrative or clarifies the original story, but it is not a correction. In these cases, we may add and/or change elements of the original story. These updates will be prominent within the story and/or clearly noted at the bottom of the story, indicating the time of the change and a note accurately identifying and describing the changed content.

Additionally, we may remove content if we believe it infringes on the intellectual property rights of a third party, otherwise violates any third-party rights, or breaches any applicable law or regulation. If necessary, these decisions would be made in concert with manilabaybeach’s legal team.

Advising our audience about the best way to spend their time and money is one of our most important responsibilities. Our reviews currently contain — and will continue to contain — the honest, independent assessments of our editorial team. Like everything else we publish, there are no paid-for reviews of any kind written by any member of the Manila Bay Beach editorial team.

As our audience grows, companies may elect to loan products (like laptops or smartphones, for example) to our editors for a limited period of time so we can evaluate them and determine whether to review them. Under such circumstances, we will keep a review unit for an extended period of time to fully evaluate it and its software updates over time. We may also agree to an “embargo” with a company or PR firm that allows us to evaluate their product prior to its release.

From time to time, Manila Bay Beach will conduct contests and giveaways for our audiences. We will post rules for each contest and giveaway, which will be binding to individuals who decide to participate. While giveaways or contests may be sponsored by an advertiser or partner, they are not and should never be considered endorsements of the entities involved, or their products. That said, manilabaybeach.com will never promote products that do not meet the high standards of the editorial staff; further, and to be clear: Manila Bay Beach will only engage with advertisers or partners which meet or exceed said high standards.

In the interest of full disclosure, Manila Bay Beach representatives are the owners of multiple, legally registered domain addresses, trademarks and copyrights — the two latter officially registered via the IPOPHL (Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines) — regarding the expressions Manila Bay Beach, Manila Bay White Sands and Manila Baywalk Dolomite Beach, as well as the various, possible combinations of each.

If you are interested in engaging in the use of any of our intellectual properties, you may contact us at joe@manilabaybeach.com to inquire.

Manila Bay Beach does not currently have investors nor does it currently have plans for such. 

From time to time, Manila Bay Beach’s team may engage with other businesses, brands and organizations whose activities resonate with the company as a whole, or with one or more of our editors. These partnerships do not impact the content that our editorial teams independently publish. Our Partnerships team, however, may create content as part of these partnerships, and we may publish this content on our editorial sites. In these cases, we will include a disclosure to describe the nature of the relationship between the Manila Bay Beach brand(s) and the partner(s) and the extent to which our editorial teams were involved in the creation of the content.

At this stage in our growth, Manila Bay Beach does not employ a dedicated advertising team responsible for selling advertising space on our properties, nor do we sell advertising directly on our own. Any future advertisements (for which we have no plans) will reflect the views and standards of Manila Bay Beach or our editorial teams. We at Manila Bay Beach have our own standards and ethics and refuse to publish anything outside of those boundaries.

Further, our editorial teams do not directly accept money or other consideration from individuals or entities as a condition or incentive to write a review or story, whether favorable or unfavorable. However, and although we have no current plans for this activity, some of our personally-created, editorial content in the future may be made possible through the support of sponsors. This content will be clearly marked as content “Presented by [the applicable sponsor]”. Our sponsors may select which content they wish to support, however, we do not allow our Manila Bay Beach representatives, or our sponsors, to control or interfere with the editorial integrity of our editorial teams and the content they create and publish. To be crystal clear: Manila Bay Beach currently has no sponsors nor does it intend to pursue any.

Some of our content in the future may contain marketing links, which means we will receive a commission for purchases made via those links. In our editorial content, however, our editorial teams are not influenced by Manila Bay Beach affiliate partnerships, and such content is marked as such by including a similar affiliate links disclosure. To again be crystal clear: Manila Bay Beach currently has no affiliate marketing links nor does it have immediate plans to pursue any.

We’re always interested in hearing from you if you have a concern about our ethical standards. If you see something that doesn’t look right on manilabaybeach.com or on any of our social media accounts, please let us know.