Police File Criminal Complaint Against Philippines VP Sara Duterte for Assaulting Security – Days After Threatening to Kill President
Philippine police on Wednesday filed criminal charges against Vice President Sara Duterte and her security staff for assaulting security personnel and disobeying orders during an argument in the House of Representatives on Saturday. President Duterte had a busy day Saturday as he publicly said he had hired assassins to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his […]
‘Shock of our lives’: Philippines reels as five major storms strike in three weeks | Philippines
TLast week, a typhoon ripped off a quarter of the tiled roof of Diana Moraleda's house in Tuguegaro City in the northern Philippines. Even after Typhoon Toraji brought rain over the weekend and Typhoon Usagi made landfall late Thursday, the gaping holes were still there. “It's tough because a lot of houses were destroyed.” [Yinxing]. […]
China’s aggression tests US pact to defend Philippines
Rising tensions between the Philippines and China have raised questions about whether the United States is prepared to defend its allies from Chinese aggression, especially in disputed areas of the Pacific. The United States and the Philippines have a mutual defense treaty, first signed in 1951, that requires the countries to come together in the […]
Philippines deploys new coast guard ship to contested Sabina Shoal
The Philippines plans to send a new vessel to replace the Coast Guard vessel Teresa Magbanua, which has returned to Sabina Reef. China had demanded the withdrawal of the Teresa Magbanua, claiming it was “illegally stranded” on Sabina Reef. The Chinese Coast Guard criticized the Philippines' actions as a serious violation of its territorial sovereignty. […]
Asteroid burns up in Earth’s atmosphere over Philippines
Photos show a small, “harmless” asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere over the Philippines on Wednesday afternoon, generating a fireball that lit up the sky. The asteroid passed over the northernmost island of the Philippine archipelago at 17.6 kilometers per second, or 63,360 kilometers per hour, before burning up just before 1 p.m. New Scientist reported. Asteroid […]
Philippine fugitive mayor Alice Guo arrested in Indonesia, officials say | Philippines
Manila's Department of Justice said in a statement that Alice Guo, a former Philippine mayor who had been a fugitive on suspicion of ties to Chinese crime syndicates, had been arrested in Indonesia. Guo, also known as Guo Huaping, a Chinese national, is wanted by the Philippine Senate for refusing to appear at a congressional […]
Philippines and Vietnam, Threatened by China, Sign Defense Deal
The governments of the Philippines and Vietnam announced on Friday they would sign a defense pact that will expand cooperation between the two countries from trade to military and security projects, including “maritime” defense operations. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made the announcement on Friday while receiving Vietnamese Defense Minister Phan Van Giang at the […]
Philippines Condemns Chinese Air Force’s ‘Unjustified, Illegal, and Reckless’ Actions
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sunday condemned “unjust, illegal and reckless” exercises by the Chinese air force over the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the Spratly Islands. According to the Philippine military, two Chinese aircraft Dropped Flare On Thursday, it crashed into the flight path of a Philippine light transport plane flying over Scarborough Shoal. […]
Smartmatic Head Charged with Bribing Election Officials to Get Contracts in Philippines
A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida on Thursday indicted Roger Piñate, founder and president of voting-machine maker Smartmatic, on charges of participating in a bribery and money laundering scheme connected to the 2016 Philippine elections. In addition to Piñate, a federal grand jury in Florida indicted two other “executives of voting […]
‘I did it as quietly as I could’: the navy chief who wrecked his ship to scupper China’s ambitions | Philippines
MaMore than 25 years ago, the BRP Sierra Madre set off on its final secret voyage. In the dark of night, the Philippine Navy ship sailed from Manila Bay into the remote waters of the South China Sea, where, to the surprise of many, it ran aground and has not moved since. “We did it […]