SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has defended Vice President Sara Duterte from criticism about her silence over China’s aggression against Philippine government vessels and fisherfolk in the West Philippine Sea. Marcos said in an interview with Philippine media in Washington, where he had attended a trilateral summit with US President Joe Biden […]
SUMMARY WASHINGTON, USA – The Philippines is determined to assert its sovereign rights in the South China Sea, its foreign secretary said on Friday, April 13 at a meeting with US allies to show support for Manila over an increasingly fraught standoff with China in the strategic waterway. Speaking at the US State Department, Philippine […]
SUMMARY WASHINGTON, USA – Long-simmering tensions between China and its neighbors took center stage on Thursday, April 11, as leaders of the US, Japan and the Philippines met at the White House to push back on Beijing’s stepped-up pressure on Manila in the disputed South China Sea. US President Joe Biden’s administration announced new joint […]
SUMMARY WASHINGTON, USA – Long-simmering tensions between China and its neighbors took center stage on Thursday, April 12, as leaders of the US, Japan, and the Philippines gathered at the White House to push back on Beijing’s stepped-up pressure on Manila in the disputed South China Sea. US President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to […]
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – An escalating diplomatic row and recent maritime run-ins between China and the Philippines, a US treaty ally, have made the highly strategic South China Sea a potential flashpoint between Washington and Beijing. The issue will be a focus of trilateral meeting between US President Joe Biden, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. […]
On February 29, in his address before the Australian parliament, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. described the Philippines as the “front line” – suggesting that the country is in a battle, quote, “against actions that undermine regional peace.” With China’s increasing use of more aggressive measures such as lasers, water cannons, and even the outright ramming […]
PALAWAN, Philippines – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and 25 Filipino fishing vessels installed fish aggregating devices in Recto Bank – all under the watch of and the occasional harassment from the China Coast Guard. As fisherfolk from Palawan are forced to venture farther and farther away to […]
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – Microsoft’s April 2024 Threat Intelligence Report found that “China-based threat actors” are continuing to target entities, mostly from the government and telecommunications sectors from countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), amid tensions in the region and the West Philippine Sea. Microsoft found that these cyber actors affiliated with […]
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his administration has no idea about a supposed gentleman’s agreement between the administration of his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte and China on the West Philippine Sea conflict, but asserted that the thought of it was appalling. “I am horrified by the idea that we have compromised, through […]
SUMMARY In the aftermath of the recent sea skirmish at Ayungin Shoal, both President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro issued strongly worded statements during the Holy Week. This was capped by a policy pronouncement from the office of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Easter Sunday morning. President Marcos issued instructions based on […]