Philippines - Page 2

Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli farming community that was brutally attacked by Hamas on October 7, issued a statement Friday welcoming the release of one of the Filipino nationals who worked on the kibbutz as a caretaker and was taken hostage by Hamas.

China disputed the Philippine Coast Guard’s claim it removed a hazardous floating barrier from a lagoon in the Scarborough Shoal.

Naval assets from Australia, Japan, and the U.S. will meet in the South China Sea this week, gathering off the western Philippines to highlight their commitment to the rule of law in the region after a recent show of Chinese aggression in the disputed waters, Filipino security officials said Sunday.

The Philippine military accused China of taking “excessive and offensive actions” against a supply ship on its way to the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea Sunday.

The Philippine government is contemplating a ban of the film “Barbie” over reports it displays China’s “Nine-Dash Line” propaganda map.

The Business and Human Rights Resource Center (BHRRC), a human rights advocacy group based in London with an international research team, published a report last week that warned of human rights violations and environmental damage in the supply chain for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

U.S. and Philippine pilots launched a joint training exercise called Cope Thunder on Monday, flying together for the first time in over 30 years as a Cold War-era bilateral fighter training program was renewed in the face of Chinese aggression.

Explorers announced they found a WWII ship that was sunk in 1942, resulting in Australia’s largest maritime wartime loss of 1,080 lives.

China’s state-run Global Times on Monday argued that China’s menacing combat exercises over the weekend — including a simulated rocket attack on Taiwan that would cause massive civilian casualties if conducted for real — would have a “profound impact on the progress of national reunification.”

The city of San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines, held its first unrestricted Good Friday crucifixion ceremony since the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic began in 2020 this week, nailing eight people to crosses as a form of penance for sin.

The Philippine government hinted on Tuesday that it would welcome a permanent defense attaché from India, a sign of growing military cooperation between the two countries against the common menace of Communist China.

Four additional military bases in the Philippines were opened up to U.S. troops on Monday, with one site near the increasingly contested South China Sea and another bordering Taiwan.

Australia’s ABC News on Wednesday published a disturbing report that found “online sexual abuse and exploitation of children in the Philippines” more than doubled during the coronavirus lockdowns — and “many of the predators are Australians.”

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), an agency best known for maintaining a list of humanity’s most valuable cultural heritage sites, demanded the establishment of “global guidelines for the regulation of social media” in a conference on Wednesday to address alleged “disinformation.”

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps began conducting “integrated expeditionary strike force operations” in the South China Sea on Saturday, five days after a Chinese ship fired a military-grade laser at an unarmed Philippine supply ship, temporarily blinding its crew.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Monday accused a Chinese ship of attacking a Philippine ship called BRP Malapascua with a powerful laser during a resupply mission, temporary blinding some of the crew.

Philippine Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez announced on Thursday that American forces will be granted more extensive access to Philippine military bases, adding four sites to the five already available to the U.S. for training, equipment storage, and infrastructure upgrades.

Philippine lawmaker Stella Quimbo told an agriculture committee hearing on Thursday that secret cartels could be responsible for the sky-high price of onions, which cost about 457 percent more than the global average in the Philippines.

The strange saga of the Filipino onion – a humble vegetable transformed into a priceless treasure by a combination of high demand, supply problems, and imbecilic government policies – took another turn on Saturday when blushing bride April Lyka Biorrey walked down the aisle with a bouquet of onions instead of flowers. By all accounts, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Filipinos visiting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are packing their suitcases with an unusual souvenir: onions. Filipino cooking uses a lot of onions, and inflation is making them unaffordable back home, but the UAE sells them for a fraction of the price.

The Supreme Court of the Philippines invalidated a 2005 agreement on Tuesday between the Philippines, Vietnam, and China that would have allowed a Chinese government corporation to explore for oil in Filipino waters, unconstitutionally exploiting the country’s national resources.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., often referred to by his nickname “Bongbong,” made his first visit in office to China this week, holding meetings with dictator Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.

Bloomberg News on Wednesday quoted a group of Western officials who accused China of creating more artificial islands in the South China Sea, specifically in the disputed Spratly archipelago, in what looks like the first stage of an audacious new land grab.

The BBC on Monday cited a recent study about child abuse surging in the Philippines during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic as disturbing evidence of a problem that may have metastasized around the world.

Vice President Kamala Harris said during her first official visit to the Philippines on Monday that the United States will honor a 1951 bilateral defense treaty and defend Filipino ships against Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.

Most primary and secondary schools in the Philippines held in-person classes on Monday for the first time since March 2020 when Manila ordered learning institutions nationwide to shut down in response to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, the Philippine Star reported.

China’s state-run Global Times on Tuesday denounced the strong U.S. dollar as a “crisis” for the rest of the world because it increases the “financial risks facing emerging markets” and allegedly makes it harder for other nations to implement anti-inflationary policies.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. became the Philippines’ 17th president last week after over four decades in politics that began under the shadow of his father, former Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

The bodies of some people killed in connection with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” from about 2016 to 2019 have been forcibly exhumed in Manila in recent weeks due to expiring leases on their temporary graves, the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper reported on Sunday.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told reporters on Wednesday he was “ready to hit the ground running” following a presumed victory in the 2022 Philippine presidential election earlier that same day.

Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. appeared to lead early vote tallies in the Philippine 2022 presidential election on Monday with 81.8 percent of eligible ballots counted, the Manila-based news website Rappler reported.

Candidates for the 2022 Philippine presidential election staged some of their final rallies this week ahead of the country’s next general election on May 9, which will see Filipinos not only elect a new president but also vote for thousands of national and regional government posts, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

 Catholic believers in the Philippines observed Good Friday this year with traditional self-flagellation rituals known as penitensya (“penitence”), marching in bloody processions to acknowledge their sins and be forgiven.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte reminisced on Tuesday about days in his youth when the country endured gasoline rationing, suggested he may impose such a policy due to skyrocketing prices and low demand he blamed on the “stupid war” between Russia and Ukraine.

U.S. Indo-Pacific commander Adm. John C. Aquilino told the Associated Press in an interview published on Sunday that China had fully militarized three artificial islands built in the territory of the Philippines as part of “the largest military buildup since World War II.”

The Philippine Foreign Ministry summoned China’s ambassador to Manila on Monday over the “illegal intrusion and lingering presence” of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessel in Philippine waters near the Sulu Sea over a three-day period from January 29 through February 1.