SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has turned down offers from the United States to assist operations in the South China Sea, after a flare-up with China over missions to resupply Filipino troops on a contested shoal, its military chief said. Tensions in the disputed waterway have boiled over into violence in the past year, […]
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered his armed forces to defuse tensions in the West Philippine Sea, his military chief said on Thursday, July 4, after a flare-up with China over missions to resupply Filipino troops on a contested shoal. Marcos’ instructions came after Manila and Beijing agreed on the […]
SUMMARY Claim: The US Coast Guard escorted a Chinese Navy fuel tanker back to mainland China. Why we fact-checked this: As of writing, the video containing the claim has 75,869 views, 1,700 likes, and 399 comments. It was posted on June 22 by a YouTube channel with 350,000 subscribers. The video is titled: “Naku po! […]
SUMMARY (This is a press release from Ayala Corporation.) MANILA, Philippines – Ayala Corporation recently donated desktop computers to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), as a gesture of appreciation and support to the PCG’s mandate. Francisco Romero Milán, Ayala’s chief human resources officer, led the turn over ceremony to the Coast Guard Strategic Studies and […]
That not all Filipinos are rallying behind the 2016 arbitral ruling that affirmed the Philippines’ sovereign rights in the South China Sea is a testament to China’s efforts to fragment Philippine society. How does China do it? Through disinformation peddled by Filipino mouthpieces. In this episode, Rappler editor-at-large Marites Vitug identifies the forms Chinese disinformation […]
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines and China discussed the “possible resumption” of a Duterte-era Joint Coast Guard Committee (JCGC), during a bilateral meeting on issues in the South China Sea. Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong met in Manila on Tuesday, July 2, for the 9th […]
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Vatican’s top diplomat, in a historic trip to Manila, called on parties in the West Philippine Sea dispute to abide by international law, even as the Catholic Church is walking its own China tightrope. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, secretary for relations with states of the Holy See, discussed the West Philippine […]
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is “hoping for the best” as diplomats from China arrived in Manila for the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) on the South China Sea meeting on Tuesday, July 2. Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo confirmed that the meeting is taking place today, Tuesday. The meeting comes just weeks after […]
SUMMARY June 30 marked the second year of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and he enters his third without an education secretary and without the Uniteam he bandied about in an election campaign that he won with a historic 60% of the votes. His former ally is now his biggest destabilizer – and I mean the […]
SUMMARY June 30 marked the second year of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and he enters his third without an education secretary and without the Uniteam he bandied about in an election campaign that he won with a historic 60% of the votes. His former ally is now his biggest destabilizer – and I mean the […]