(AFP) — Australia’s second-largest city started a six-week curfew and the Philippine capital was ordered back into lockdown, as the number of global coronavirus cases on Monday topped 18 million.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed an executive order last Friday creating a new inter-agency committee to study ways the country may adopt the use of nuclear power, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
In his annual “State of the Nation” address on Monday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte urged telecommunication companies to improve the country’s Internet service “by December” because he said he wants to “make a Zoom call with Jesus Christ himself in Bethlehem,” local news outlet Coconuts Manila reported.
The Philippine Senate has called for an investigation into the reported deaths of at least nine high-profile prison inmates, including drug lords, amid claims their deaths — allegedly due to coronavirus — were faked so they could escape custody, the Philippine Star reported on Tuesday.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday urged police to arrest people who fail to wear sanitary masks in public during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, calling the refusal to wear a mask a “serious crime,” the Philippine Star reported on Tuesday.
The Manila Bulletin, the Philippines’ largest English-language newspaper, published remarks on Wednesday allegedly made by President Rodrigo Duterte in which he threatened to blow up any international court that tries him for human rights abuses.
The United States rejected China’s claim to own offshore resources in the South China Sea on Monday, prompting a response from Chinese media questioning the mental stability of the U.S. government.
Lawmakers in the Philippines rejected on Friday the license renewal for ABS-CBN, the nation’s top news broadcaster, local news outlet Coconuts Manila reported.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed a controversial anti-terrorism bill into law on Friday despite international and domestic criticism of the legislation, Philippine news outlet Coconuts Manila reported.
Nearly two million babies are expected to be born next year in the Philippines due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study by the University of the Philippines (UP) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), local news site Coconuts Manila reported on Thursday.
A court in the Philippines convicted the founder of a news website critical of President Rodrigo Duterte on charges of “cyber libel” on Monday and sentenced her to at least six months and up to six years in prison.
China says it has neared completion in building a 450-foot-long search and rescue (SAR) ship, the largest SAR ship in the world, according to Beijing, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Wednesday.
Cases of online sexual abuse of children in the Philippines have risen by as much as 260 percent since the country’s coronavirus lockdown measures were imposed in March, Philippine news outlet Coconuts Manila reported on Tuesday.
Chinese military aircraft have been spotted at China’s largest illegal military base in the disputed South China Sea, suggesting that the People’s Liberation Army Navy Air Force (PLANAF) have started to use the site as a strategic operations base, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Wednesday, citing military surveillance by defense intelligence source Jane’s.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s chief bodyguard told Filipinos on Wednesday to stop “threatening” the president after two people were arrested in the past 24 hours for offering cash bounties to anyone willing to kill the polarizing leader, Philippine news outlet Coconuts Manila reported.
The Philippine government ordered an investigation into a birthday party held for Manila’s police chief this weekend amid a ban on large gatherings in the capital meant to curb the spread of the Chinese coronavirus, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
A Philippines state-owned radio station has been accused of spreading Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda for airing a program promoting Chinese culture and Mandarin language, Philippine news outlet Coconuts Manila reported on Monday.
The government of the Philippines ordered ABS-CBN, the nation’s largest television network, to cease operations on Tuesday after the Philippine Congress refused to renew the station’s license, Philippine news outlet Rappler reported.
Police arrested over 50 leftist activists in Manila on Friday for “illegal assembly” when they rallied en masse, violating coronavirus quarantine restrictions against large gatherings.
Citizens recorded officials in the Philippines beating a man with a stick and forcibly dragging him into a security vehicle allegedly for violating coronavirus quarantine measures by not wearing a sanitary mask, Philippine news outlet Coconuts Manila reported on Wednesday.
The Chinese embassy in Manila released a propaganda music video this weekend depicting China and the Philippines as working together toward a “shared future” in “one sea” or “Iisang Dagat,” in the Philippine language, referring to the disputed South China Sea.
The Philippines says China demonstrated “hostile intent” when it pointed a radar gun at a Philippine navy ship in Philippine waters in February, Voice of America (VOA) reported on Wednesday.
The Philippine government will publicly disclose the personal information of patients who have tested positive for coronavirus to strengthen “contact tracing efforts,” in an effort deemed “mandatory” by the country’s Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, Rappler reported on Sunday.
The city of San Fernando, Philippines, canceled its annual Good Friday crucifixions for the first time in decades this year, abiding by Chinese coronavirus quarantine measures. Some towns and cities did mark the holiday with socially distanced processions and acts of flagellation.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said the country is running out of money to provide aid to people amid the Chinese coronavirus crisis.
Police confirmed on Sunday that they shot dead a 63-year-old man on the Philippine island of Mindanao after refusing to cooperate with coronavirus mandates. The incident occurred in the town of Nasipit in the southern province of Agusan del Norte.
Salvador Panelo, spokesman for President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, defended his boss on Friday, asserting that it was “not a crime” and is constitutional for Duterte to order national police to respond to people violating Chinese coronavirus quarantines by “shoot[ing] them dead.”
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte issued a “shoot to kill” order to police officers on Wednesday for anyone they see violating Chinese coronavirus quarantine orders.
Chinese state media on Tuesday deflected complaints about the poor quality of masks and coronavirus test kits shipped from China to other countries by insisting “quality concerns” are overblown and the “vast majority” are up to standards despite growing complaints to the contrary. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) media organs blamed the countries that purchased Chinese supplies for using them improperly and cast aspersions on the foreign suppliers of raw materials to Chinese industry.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said medical workers who have contracted Chinese coronavirus while treating patients and died were “lucky” to have died in service to the country, in a national address on Monday night.
