The Philippines’ air force has been conducting daily aerial patrols over Chinese fishing vessels moored near a disputed reef, the country’s defence chief said, as he repeated a call to Beijing for their withdrawal from the area.The diplomatic row was touched off earlier this month when some 220 boats were first spotted at the boomerang-shaped Whitsun Reef, west of Palawan Island.The Philippines ordered China to recall the vessels, describing their presence as an incursion into its so

It’s hard to tell whether the Philippine government intentionally sought to mark exactly one year since the 2020 Metro Manila COVID-19 lockdown by tightening quarantine restrictions once again, first on 15 March, and then further on 22 March.New COVID-19 cases have been piling up at an alarming rate recently, with the capital as the epicentre, home to roughly a tenth of the national population.City mayors, with the backing of the administration, resolved to impose stricter checkpoints, a 10:0

The Philippine military ordered the deployment of more navy ships to the South China Sea Thursday amid a growing diplomatic row over a fleet of Chinese boats parked near a disputed reef.China claims almost the entirety of the resource-rich sea, and was accused by the United States (US) this week of efforts to "intimidate and provoke others" by parking its vessels near Whitsun Reef.Manila has ordered Beijing to recall 183 boats at the boomerang-shaped reef around 320 kilometres (175

The deployment of 220 Chinese vessels to the Julian Felipe Reef (aka Whitsun Reef), which lies in the Spratly Islands, well within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), has once again alerted Southeast Asian nations to China’s ever-growing assertiveness in the South China Sea (SCS).Criticising this unilateral, aggressive act, Delfin Lorenzana, Philippine Defense Minister called on the Chinese ships to back off, claiming that they are violating his nation’s

Last week, while many were welcoming 2021 and bidding farewell to the dreaded 2020, a tragedy occurred in a grand hotel in Makati City in the Philippines.Christine Angelica Dacera checked in at the City Garden, a four-star hotel to celebrate New Year’s Eve with her friends.However, on 1 January, 2021, the 23-year-old flight attendant at Philippines Airlines was found unconscious in the bathtub of a hotel room.According to media reports, one of her friends, Rommel Galido woke up around 10:00 a

Members of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's security team have received a Chinese-made coronavirus vaccine, officials said Monday - the first people in the country to be officially immunised despite no regulatory approval.The Philippines is in talks with several pharmaceutical firms, including Britain's AstraZeneca, United States (US) company Pfizer and China's Sinopharm, to secure 60 million doses for a vaccination drive starting as early as the second quarter of 2021.No

The latest report on Monday (14 December, 2020) by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Fatou Bensouda stated that there is “reasonable basis to believe” that the Philippines has committed crimes against humanity in connection with President Rodrigo Duterte’s so-called war on drugs operation. However, Bensouda’s report stressed that her office "anticipates deciding on whether to seek authorisation to open an investigation into the situation in the Philippines in the

The United States (US) elections have just concluded with President-elect Joe Biden at the helm as incoming President of the “free world” on 20 January, 2021. Just last week, the Trump administration officially initiated the transition process and Biden thus far has been focused on building his incoming administration while at the same time extending a hand and offering a message of healing on Tuesday (24 November, 2020). In a Twitter post, Biden said, “The election is over.

Being situated along the “Ring of Fire” and the “Typhoon Belt”, the Philippines is exposed to tropical storms and usually suffers from various natural disasters and calamities such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and flooding. Based on the 2018 World Risk Report, the Philippines ranked third in terms of disaster risk index, and the highest risks are those of earthquakes reported with 10 risk index points and tropical cyclones of 9.5 risk index points.

The latest Pulse Asia Survey, which says that eight in 10 Filipinos favour the Duterte administration’s COVID-19 response and that President Rodrigo Duterte garnered a 91 percent trust/approval rating made headlines not only locally but even internationally these last couple of days.The results of Pulse Asia’s September 2020 “Ulat ng Bayan Survey” (“Report to the Nation Survey”), state that 84 percent of Filipinos approve of the government’s work to control the spread of the new coronavirus d