SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – Between 2017 and 2019, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) dutifully compiled images that, according to them, prove how destructive Chinese activities have been in an already fragile marine environment. These images were submitted to the country’s highest offices under former president Rodrigo Duterte: the Office of the President, the National Intelligence […]
SUMMARY Nakaaaliw ang mga memes na nagsulputan tungkol kay Bamban Mayor Alice Guo – indikasyon ng pagkaasar ng publiko sa hindi kapani-paniwalang kuwento ng buhay niya – or more accurately, sa kasalatan ng kuwento ng buhay niya. “Your Honor, hindi ko na po maalala,” ang gasgas na gasgas na tugon ni Alice Guo sa mga […]
SUMMARY “Hindi kami aalis dito. Sa amin ito,” declared Maribel Belono, a resident of Pag-asa Island in the municipality of Kalayaan, Palawan province. (We’re not leaving this area. This is ours.) Belono, 49, first set foot in the island in 2002. She just wanted to visit the area. But little did she know that she […]
SUMMARY What if, as John Lennon wrote in his classic song “Imagine,” there were no countries? What would the situation then be like in the South China Sea and in the West Philippine Sea? I was reminded of the lyrics to Lennon’s famous song and its meaning after watching a China Global Television Network (CGTN) […]
KALAYAAN, Philippines – Sa isla ng Pag-asa sa West Philippine Sea, patuloy na naninindigan ang mga residente laban sa China. “Hindi kami aalis dito. Sa amin ito,” sabi ni Maribel Belono. Dagdag niya, bagama’t palagi nilang natatanaw ang naglalakihang barko ng China na nakapalibot sa isla, ni minsan ay hindi sumagi sa kanyang isipan na […]
SUMMARY Extracting quick and timely on-the-record answers from most diplomats is an exercise in hope. Answers, should they come, are seldom quick and rarely timely. But you try anyway. However, hoping for quick, timely, and responsive answers from the Chinese embassy in Manila when diplomatic ties are at a considerable low is an exercise in […]
SUMMARY MANILA/BEIJING – A Philippine group leading a civilian supply mission in the South China Sea delivered food and fuel to Filipino fishermen despite being shadowed by Chinese vessels, its officials said on Thursday, May 16, calling it a “major victory.” A 10-member team was sent by the Atin Ito (This is Ours) group to […]
SUMMARY Rodrigo Duterte ceased to be president in June 2022, yet his shadow continues to loom large over state matters today. Of course, his drug war campaign will be immortalized in Philippine history books as probably the worst that resulted in thousands of violent killings instigated by a president. But, as we have discovered, that’s […]
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) monitored at least 46 Chinese vessels in the “vicinity area” of Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc on Thursday, May 16, as a civilian mission aboard wooden fishing vessels tried to sail closer to the shoal. According a situation report from the PCG that was shared […]
MANILA, Philippines – Over 46 Chinese government vessels have been deployed at the vicinity of Panatag Shoal, also called Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal, a feature just 120 nautical miles off the coast of Zambales province in the West Philippine Sea. At least 19 of those vessels were in the immediate area of the […]