Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced plans Thursday for a sweeping lockdown of the capital's 12 million people, including a halt to domestic travel, in a bid to contain the deadly new coronavirus.Though the nation has detected a fraction of the cases seen in hotspots such as China and Italy, officials hope to arrest the spread before it takes firm root in Manila's densely packed neighbourhoods. During a nationally televised address, Duterte also announced a month

The dozen children stared shyly at the audience but grew bolder when they began to sing, pouring their grief into music for the fathers they lost to the Philippines' drug war.They perform as a choir that is both an act of protest against the internationally condemned campaign, and a key element in their community's effort to keep these children from being gunned down too.Poor families like theirs have been especially hard hit by President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly crackdown, whi

The former chief police enforcer of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly war on drugs will be charged with corruption for allegedly protecting officers linked to the narcotics trade, the justice department said Thursday.Oscar Albayalde resigned in October after serving as Philippine police chief for more than a year, having presided over an anti-narcotics crackdown that left thousands of drug suspects dead.The episode that led to his sudden fall from grace cast an unwelcome ligh

The Philippines has begun evacuating thousands of people, local officials said Sunday, as a powerful typhoon rumbling in from the Pacific forced Southeast Asian Games organisers to cancel or reschedule some events.The storm entered Philippine territory Saturday evening, shortly before President Rodrigo Duterte and boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao launched the Games with a colourful opening ceremony.Forecasters expect Typhoon Kammuri to make landfall Monday evening or Tuesday morning, packing g

It is going to take a flawless next couple of weeks for the Philippines’ bruised reputation to recover from all the negative press surrounding the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.While this year’s edition of the biennial meet is the biggest in terms of sports, events and number of medals, it will now also be remembered as the biggest failure to prepare.Scheduled to run until 11 December, the region’s largest multi-sport event officially kicks off today but has already been overwhelmed by a t

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte apologised and pledged a probe into the troubled run-up to Saturday's opening of the Southeast Asian Games after a rush of logistical problems and last-minute construction.Complaints over transport, accommodation and food stacked up as thousands of athletes have flooded into Manila for the biggest ever edition of the Games, which are also threatened by an approaching typhoon forecast to hit the northern Philippines early next week.Though initially con

Philippine organisers of the Southeast Asian Games fired back on Thursday after days of critical coverage of the messy build-up to Saturday's opening ceremony.Reports of unfinished construction, transport delays and complaints about food have surfaced as competitors have poured in for the regional competition.In response, lawmakers and the spokesman of President Rodrigo Duterte have called for a probe into the preparations.Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the organising committee, told j

A Philippines legislator said Tuesday she has asked the senate to conduct an inquiry into the potential threat of China shutting off the country's electricity supply.A Chinese state firm has a substantial stake in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, which has been operating power transmission facilities since 2009.Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros, the sponsor of the resolution calling for a senate inquiry, alleged there are reports Chinese engineers are illegally operatin

Although fossil fuels are the single biggest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, coal continues to be supported by both the government and businesses in the Philippines.While it is the cheapest fuel option, coal is also the most polluting one.

Despite it being 10 years to the day, justice remains elusive for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines.Exactly a decade ago, 58 people – including 32 journalists – were brutally gunned down in Ampatuan, a town in the Filipino province of Maguindanao, in what is still the single deadliest attack on journalists in the world.The casualties were part of a convoy accompanying family members of Esmael ‘Toto’ Mangudadatu on their way to file his candidacy papers for the Maguind