America’s embassy in the Philippines issued a statement Thursday demanding “due process” for Maria Ressa, the CEO of the publication Rappler, who was arrested Wednesday on “cyber libel” charges for publishing a government intelligence report.
Police in the Philippines arrested Maria Ressa, the CEO of the major online publication Rappler, and former Rappler reporter Reynaldo Santos, Jr., on Wednesday on charges of “cyber libel” for an article quoting a government intelligence report accusing a wealthy businessman of having ties to drug trafficking.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte praised former leader Ferdinand Marcos on Monday for suggesting the country change its name to Maharlika, a Malay name, in an attempt to erase Spanish “conquest and subjugation.”
Between 300 and 550 Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadis remain active in the Philippines, a testament to the lingering threat posed by the jihadi group despite efforts by U.S.-backed local forces.
A grenade was thrown into a mosque in the southern Philippines early Wednesday morning, killing two Muslim clerics. Four people were reportedly wounded in the blast. The mosque attack came three days after multiple bombs were detonated at a Catholic cathedral in the same region, killing 21 people.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Sunday for the bombing of a Catholic church in the Philippines that killed at least 20 people and wounded 111 others. Some estimates put the number of people killed in the attack as high as 27.
The Philippine island of Mindanao held a referendum on Monday to establish an autonomous region that would be governed by the largely Muslim residents.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte condemned the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) as violent, hopeless, and insane during a speech Thursday, and urged members of the U.S.-designated terrorist organization to turn away from their “rotten ideology.”
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte continued to campaign against the Catholic Church in remarks Thursday, once again referring to Catholic bishops as “sons of bitches” and demanding the Church allow same-sex relationships because “most of them are gay.”
China’s Ministry of Natural Resources on Tuesday announced an initiative to repair damage to coral reefs inflicted by its dubiously legal development of disputed islands in the South China Sea’s Spratly chain.
Suspected jihadis remotely detonated a bomb on Monday near the entrance of a mall in the southern Philippines, killing at least two and wounding nearly 30 others as they did last minute shopping ahead of the New Year’s Eve celebrations in an attack that officials say bears the hallmarks of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana of the Philippines announced Friday that his government would launch a complete review of the 1951 mutual defense treaty signed with the United States, aimed at deciding whether to “maintain it, strengthen it, or scrap it.”
Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Friday his government will protect its interests in the South China Sea – or, as Manila prefers, the West Philippine Sea – despite Chinese aggression in the region, promising that Philippine ships would continue to patrol the area and troops will continue to be stationed in the Spratly Islands.
China has flooded parts of the Philippines with “fishing vessels” that in reality serve as parts of a sprawling paramilitary intended to give Beijing control of the entire South China Sea, the Philippine Star reported on Monday.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte used the occasion of an award ceremony for “Child-friendly Municipalities and Cities” on Wednesday to call on his population to “kill bishops” for being “good for nothing.” On Friday, at a labor event, Duterte disparaged priests as being “90 percent gay.”
President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, who has adopted as his signature policy a violent nationwide crackdown on drug use, claimed in remarks on Monday that he uses marijuana “to stay awake.”
The Chinese state publication China Daily announced the beginning of construction on Wednesday of what it referred to as “a complex of facilities for research” on Hainan island in the South China Sea intended to conserve the “historical heritage in the South China Sea.”
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte issued yet another tirade against the Catholic Church on Monday, accusing Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of illegal drug use and threatening to behead him for buying drugs.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte blocked the military from enforcing a 2016 ruling declaring China’s presence in Philippine waters illegal, the nation’s Defense Secretary told reporters on Friday.
A study published Tuesday revealed satellite photos of a “modest” new Chinese structure of unknown use in the Paracel Islands of the South China Sea, signs that China has continued to construct facilities in the region despite an international court ruling finding the development illegal.
A poll released Tuesday by the Philippine firm Social Weather Systems (SWS) found that 84 percent of respondents nationwide believed it was “not right” for President Rodrigo Duterte to refuse to challenge China over its ongoing colonization of Philippine territory in the South China Sea.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte signed 29 deals with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday during the latter’s visit to Manila that grant China greater access to Philippine territorial waters and bind the Philippines to China’s expansive Belt and Road infrastructure project.
On Tuesday, China’s president Xi Jinping visited Philippines president Rodrigo R. Duterte to sign 29 agreements. The agreements give China permission to drill for oil and gas in the Philippines territorial waters.
Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping received a frigid welcome in the Philippines on Tuesday as hundreds of protesters circled the Chinese embassy in Manila and others took to attacking Xi on social media for launching a colonization campaign in Philippine territories of the South China Sea.
A group of over 100 Chinese tourists swarmed Yagong Island, in the disputed Paracel Island chain of the South China Sea, this weekend for a “flag-raising ceremony” to assert China’s sovereignty over the region.
Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping declared in an opinion piece published Monday in Philippine media that the dispute about China’s colonization of the South China Sea is officially over. Xi is scheduled to arrive in Manila on Tuesday.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte skipped three major events at the annual Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit on Wednesday and has announced he will not attend the summit’s traditional gala dinner, prompting concerns at home about his health and his willingness to confront China in the South China Sea abroad.
National Security Advisor John Bolton warned the Chinese government Tuesday that Washington would sternly oppose any attempts to block free transit in the international waters of the South China Sea, anticipating Beijing proposing a “code of conduct” in the region to grant it control of territory far outside its borders.
The growing number of Islamic State (ISIS) jihadis in the Philippines is galvanizing local terrorist groups in the Muslim-majority island of Mindanao into renewing efforts to establish a caliphate in the region, the Guardian reported on Sunday, echoing other assessments.
Imelda Marcos, the 89-year-old widow of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos and a sitting member of the Philippines House of Representatives, was named in an arrest warrant on Friday when she failed to appear in court to face seven corruption charges.
