PHILIPPINES

Filipino diplomats confronted Chinese officials in closed-door talks Friday with a slew of protests over China’s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, including targeting a Philippine coast guard ship with a military-grade laser, but no resolution was reached on the issues, an official said. Territorial disputes in the busy waterway have long loomed as a potential flashpoint in Asia and have become a sensitive front in the regional rivalry between China and the United States. Washington lays no claims in the contested waters but has challenged Beijing's extensive claims, including by deploying its warships and fighter jets and repeatedly warning that it would help defend the Philippines — a treaty ally — if Philippine forces, ships and aircraft are attacked.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has defended his decision to allow a larger United States military presence in the country as vital to territorial defense.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday defended his decision to allow a larger United States military presence in the country as vital to territorial defense despite China's fierce opposition and warning that it would “drag the Philippines into the abyss of geopolitical strife.” The Marcos administration announced in early February that it would allow rotating batches of American forces to indefinitely stay in four more Philippine military camps in addition to five local bases earlier designated under a 2014 defense pact of the longtime treaty allies. Marcos said the four new sites would be announced soon and they include areas in the northern Philippines.

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A former State Department employee will spend 15 years in prison after he admitted to committing sex crimes with minors while he was working at the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines.

Government changes to Premier League shirt sponsors could mean an end to some gambling companies.

A Philippine search team guided by sniffer dogs has found the wreckage of a single-engine plane that crashed on a mountain more than a month ago and confirmed that all six people on board were dead

Residents in the Oriental Mindoro province in the Philippines reported symptoms of illness after the MT Princess Empress tanker sank and caused a major oil spill.

The Cessna 206 took off on January 24 for what would have been a short flight — but it never made it, prompting a desperate weeks-long search through remote mountainous terraine.

The Philippine coast guard has launched a strategy of publicizing aggressive actions by China in the disputed South China Sea, which has countered Chinese propaganda and sparked international condemnation that has put Beijing under the spotlight, a Philippine official said Wednesday. Manila's coast guard has intensified patrols in the disputed waters and taken extra efforts to document and publicize assertive Chinese behavior in the strategic waterway, including a Feb. 6 incident in which a Chinese coast guard ship aimed a military-grade laser that briefly blinded some crew members on a Philippine patrol boat off a disputed reef. The coast guard protested and released a video of the incident, which sparked alarm in the Philippines, the United States and some other Western countries.

Nearly four dozen Chinese warships were spotted near the Philippines’ Pag-asa Island in the province of Palawan over the weekend, worsening tensions in the disputed region of the West Philippine Sea. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported the sighting, writing that one belongs to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, one belongs to the China Coast Guard (CCG) and 42 other ships allegedly posed as fishing vessels but were actually part of the Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM). The PLA Navy and CCG ships were spotted at a distance of 8 nautical miles and 4 nautical miles from Pag-asa, respectively.

Philippine transport groups have launched a nationwide strike to protest a government program that drivers fear would phase out iconic jeepneys and other aging public transport vehicles.

Philippine transport groups launched a nationwide strike Monday to protest a government program drivers fear would phase out traditional jeepneys, which have become a cultural icon, and other aging public transport vehicles. Officials, however, braced with contingencies and deployed government vehicles to take stranded passengers in some areas. Other groups refused to join the weeklong strike that could keep more than 40,000 passenger jeepneys and vans off the streets in the Manila metropolis alone.

Gunmen in military uniforms fatally shot Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and five civilians while the provincial leader was meeting villagers at his home in the central Philippines

The FBI is seeking help finding Edgardo Feralin Dormido Jr., accused of molesting two girls when he worked as their caregiver in 2015.

A helicopter carrying five people, including a hospital patient and a nurse, has gone missing in a western Philippine province and an air and sea search has been launched

The Philippine president said the main mission of his country's military has changed to ensure the protection of its territory as disputes with China and U.S.-China rivalry intensify. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stressed the urgency of shifting the military’s focus to external defense in a speech before troops Monday afternoon. The Philippines condemned the Feb. 6.

The Philippine coast guard says it has joined a search for a Taiwanese-flagged fishing vessel carrying six people, which was last spotted more than a week ago off Palau in the western Pacific

Pro-democracy protesters in the Philippines marked the anniversary on Saturday of the 1986 army-backed “people power” revolt with the son of the dictator, who was ousted in that uprising, now leading the country. Left-wing activists, carrying an effigy that depicted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as a pest, protested separately at a nearby pro-democracy monument. Faced with the awkward situation of issuing a statement to mark the revolt that toppled his namesake father, Marcos Jr. called for reconciliation without citing the event as a democratic milestone, as his predecessors had done.

Taiwan detected some 37 Chinese aircraft and six navy vessels, while the Philippines found over two dozen Chinese navy vessels in the South China Sea on Friday.

USA Basketball put together different rosters for all six World Cup qualifying windows, and coach Jim Boylen noticed the same two things with each of those groups.

New Zealand tourist Nicholas Peter Stacey, also called Nicky, died while trying to fend off a pair of robbers, who ran off after stealing his girlfriend's phone and wallet.

A Philippine mayor says a search team has reached the crash site on a restive volcano of a plane carrying two Filipinos and two Australians and found all aboard were killed.

The Philippines is in talks with the United States as well as Australia on future joint patrols in the South China Sea, where China's increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed waters are causing concern, top defense officials in the three nations said Wednesday. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called his Philippine counterpart, Carlito Galvez Jr., to reiterate Washington’s support and commitment to help defend its oldest treaty ally in Asia after a Chinese coast guard aimed a military-grade laser at a Philippine patrol vessel near a disputed shoal.

Philippine police officials say a massive search is underway for two motorcycle-riding men who shot and killed a New Zealand man in a brazen street robbery that officials fear could scare foreign tourists away

Philippine police officials say a massive search is underway for two motorcycle-riding men who shot and killed a New Zealand man in a brazen street robbery that officials fear could scare foreign tourists away.

A Philippine police search was underway on Wednesday for two motorcycle-riding men who shot and killed a New Zealand man in a brazen street robbery that officials fear could scare foreign tourists away. The 34-year-old tourist, Nicholas Peter Stacey, was fatally shot once in the chest while trying to wrest a pistol from one of the two robbers who held him up and his Filipina girlfriend on Sunday in a suburban street in Manila’s Makati financial district, police Maj. Gen. Jonnel Estomo said. While he described the deadly street robbery as an “isolated incident,” Estomo acknowledged it has the potential to frighten foreign tourists.

A plane crashed into a volcano in the Philippines, killing two pilots and two Australian passengers. The wreckage from the plane was found on the side of the volcano.

The wreckage of a small plane carrying two Filipino pilots and two Australian passengers has been identified on one of the Philippines’ most active volcanoes

An aerial search team spotted suspected wreckage of the small plane about 1,150 feet from the crater of Mayon Volcano.

Philippine aviation officials say they are investigating whether the wreckage of a small plane spotted near the crater of a restive volcano is that of a Cessna aircraft, which went missing over the weekend with four people on board

A small plane carrying four people has gone after taking off southeast of the Philippine capital and a search is underway

The Philippine president says the Chinese coast guard’s use of military-grade laser against a Philippine patrol vessel in the disputed South China Sea was not enough for him to invoke a mutual defense treaty with the United States.

A strong earthquake has rocked a central Philippine province, sending people out of their homes at night, prompting dozens of patients to be evacuated from a hospital and causing minor damage to a coliseum and business establishments

The United States has renewed a warning that it will defend its treaty ally if Filipino forces come under attack in the disputed South China Sea.

The United States renewed a warning that it would defend its treaty ally if Filipino forces come under an armed attack in the disputed South China Sea after a Chinese coast guard ship allegedly hit a Philippine patrol vessel with military-grade laser that temporarily blinded some of its crew. U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said China’s “dangerous operational behavior directly threatens regional peace and stability, infringes upon freedom of navigation in the South China Sea as guaranteed under international law and undermines the rules-based international order." “The United States stands with our Philippine allies,” Price said in a statement after the Philippines on Monday accused a Chinese coast guard ship of using laser on Feb. 6 to block the Philippine patrol vessel BRP Malapascua from approaching the Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef that has been occupied by Filipino forces.

The incident in the South China Sea comes days after the Philippines agreed to give U.S. forces access to four new military facilities.

Philippines coast guard says a Chinese ship used a military-grade laser to blind crew members and block a supply mission, showing a "blatant disregard" for Manilla's sovereign rights.

The Philippines has accused a Chinese coast guard ship of hitting a Philippine coast guard vessel with a military-grade laser and temporarily blinding some of its crew in the disputed South China Sea.

The Philippines has accused a Chinese coast guard ship of hitting a Philippine coast guard vessel with a military-grade laser and temporarily blinding some of its crew in the disputed South China Sea.

The Philippines on Monday accused a Chinese coast guard ship of hitting a Philippine coast guard vessel with a military-grade laser and temporarily blinding some of its crew in the disputed South China Sea, calling it a “blatant” violation of Manila’s sovereign rights. The Chinese ship also maneuvered dangerously close, about 137 meters (449 feet), to block the Philippine patrol vessel BRP Malapascua from approaching Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef that has been occupied by Philippine forces, on Feb. 6, the Philippine coast guard said in a statement. The Philippines has filed nearly 200 diplomatic protests against China’s aggressive actions in the disputed waters in 2022 alone.

A United States general has said that American forces and their allies in Asia are ready for battle after years of joint combat exercises.

American forces and their allies in Asia are ready for battle after years of joint combat exercises, a United States general said Wednesday, adding that Russia’s setbacks in Ukraine should serve as a warning to potential Asian aggressors like China and North Korea. U.S. treaty allies like the Philippines, Japan and Australia, among others, “have shown that they will band together, that they will not stand for aggression from these nations that have decided they want to change the world order out here,” Maj. Gen. Joseph Ryan said.

The United States is rebuilding its military might in the Philippines more than 30 years after it closed its bases there.

Once-secret ammunition bunkers and barracks lay abandoned, empty and overrun by weeds — vestiges of American firepower in what used to be the United States' largest overseas naval base at Subic Bay in the northern Philippines. The U.S. has been taking steps to rebuild its military might in the Philippines more than 30 years after the closure of its large bases in the country and reinforcing an arc of military alliances in Asia in a starkly different post-Cold War era when the perceived new regional threat is an increasingly belligerent China. On Feb. 2, the longtime allies announced that rotating batches of American forces would be granted access to four more Philippine military camps aside from five other local bases, where U.S.-funded constructions have picked up pace to build barracks, warehouses and other buildings to accommodate a yet-unspecified but expectedly considerable number of visiting troops under a 2014 defense pact.

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte made a habit of casting doubt on the future of his country’s longstanding defense ties with the US, usually in response to US concerns about his deadly drug war. Now with new presidents in both countries, the tide has turned. The two allies have paved the way for greater American presence in the Asia-Pacific region, spurred by persistent tensions with China over Taiwan and the South China Sea.

The U.S. is expanding it military presence in Asia, in a string of moves aimed at countering Beijing and reassuring Indo-Pacific allies that America will stand with them against threats from China and North Korea.

The United States and the Philippines have announced an expansion of America's military presence in the Southeast Asian country.

The Department of Defense announced the move that is widely seen as a way to deter China's influence in the region amid a visit to the Philippines by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced a new agreement to house American troops and military supplies in the Pacific.

The Philippines says it is allowing U.S. forces to broaden their footprint in that Southeast Asian nation.

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 shook southeastern Philippines Wednesday, but no injuries or major damage were reported immediately.

The United States and the Philippines have announced plans to expand America's military presence in the Southeast Asian nation, with access to four more bases as they seek to deter China’s increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in the Philippines on Wednesday for talks about deploying U.S. forces and weapons in more Philippine military camps to ramp up deterrence against China’s increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea. Austin flew Tuesday night to Manila from South Korea, where he met his counterpart and said the U.S. would increase its deployment of advanced weapons such as fighter jets and bombers to the Korean Peninsula to bolster joint training with South Korean forces in response to North Korea’s growing nuclear threat.

The expansion is part of a broader push in the Indo-Pacific to buttress U.S. force posture, reinforce alliances and deter China.

When canvassing intervention, vagueness is good. The Philippines decided otherwise and survived — with help from a friend.

International Criminal Court judges have cleared the way for the court’s prosecution office to resume its investigation into the so-called war on drugs in the Philippines.

As the prices of onions have soared in recent months in the Philippines, a Filipino bride chose practicality over traditional aesthetics by walking down the aisle with a bouquet of onions. April Lyka Biorrey-Nobis, a 28-year-old bride from Bingawan, Iloilo City, walked down the aisle with an onion bouquet that weighed about 11 pounds on Jan. 21. The unique enterprise was extended to her principal sponsors, who wore onion corsages, and to her bridesmaids, who also walked down the aisle holding onion wreaths.

Durante was sacked as commander of the 101st Brigade after he was named as a person of interest in Yvonette Chua Plaza's murder, officials said.

A Philippine air force plane has crashed on a farm, killing the two people on board

The Nobel laureate has a to-do list with three things on it: avoid prison, fix the entire internet, save democracy.

The Philippines is ranked among the most vulnerable countries to climate-related disasters but is a minor contributor to global climate change.

"Today, facts win" declared a defiant Ressa, who still faces other charges in a long-running legal battle with the government she calls "a brazen abuse of power."

At least 28 people have died in floods and landslides this month, after at least 50 were killed in severe weather during the holidays.

The Philippine Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional a 2005 pact by China, the Philippines and Vietnam to jointly explore for oil in the disputed South China Sea.

The Philippines’ interior secretary has asked all police generals and full colonels to submit their courtesy resignation to clean the ranks of ties to illegal drugs.

Thousands of people in the Philippines remain in emergency shelters in the wake of devastating Christmas flooding as the death toll climbed to 51 with 19 missing.

Philippine officials say the death toll from heavy rains and floods over the Christmas weekend has risen to 25, with 26 others still missing.

In many ways, the service at the Catholic Church of Our lady of the Rosary feels like a standard Sunday Mass.

Hundreds of people have marched in the Philippine capital protesting what they say is a rising number of extrajudicial killings and other injustices under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The protesters, led by the rights groups alliance Karapatan, gathered at a public square on Saturday before marching toward the presidential palace in Manila to demand justice for victims.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will fly to a western Philippine island province at the edge of the South China Sea to amplify America’s support to its treaty ally and underline U.S. interest in freedom of navigation in the disputed waters.

U.S. and Philippine officials say the United States is seeking an expansion of its military presence in the Philippines.

A Philippine military commander says the Chinese coast guard has forcibly seized apparent Chinese rocket debris that was being towed by the Philippine navy, in the latest confrontation in the disputed South China Sea.

After two weeks of U.N. climate talks, negotiators agreed to one big decision, to create a fund to help developing countries suffering the impacts of climate change.

Millions of students have begun trooping back to public schools across the Philippines.

Philippine officials say more than 100 people have died in one of the most destructive storms to lash the Philippines this year.

A Philippine official says many victims of a huge mudslide in a southern coastal village thought a tsunami was approaching and ran to higher ground at the foot of a mountain.

Philippine officials say flash floods and landslides set off by torrential rains have left at least 50 people dead.

Philippine officials say torrential rains set off flash floods and landslides that swamped a southern province, killing at least 42 people and leaving 16 others missing.

Officials say a strong earthquake has rocked a large swath of the northern Philippines, injuring at least 36 people, forcing the closure of an international airport and prompting the evacuation of patients in a hospital.

Philippine authorities have allowed a central airport to partially reopen to international and domestic flights despite the plane stuck near its runway.

A damaged Korean Air plane remains stuck in the grass at a Philippine airport after it overshot a runway in rainy weather the night before.

A Korean Air plane has overshot the runway while landing in bad weather in the central Philippines.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr_ has backed a decision by his predecessor to cancel a contract to buy 16 Russian military heavy-lift helicopters and says his administration has “secured an alternative supply from the United States.”.

Truck-mounted launchers blasted off rockets and U.S. stealth fighter jets streaked across the northern Philippine sky in a combat drill that marked the latest display of American firepower in a region where Washington has tried to deter what it warns as China’s growing aggression.

Motorcycle-riding gunmen have killed a longtime radio commentator in metropolitan Manila in the latest attack on a member of the media in the Philippines, considered one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists.

Vietnam has imposed a curfew and evacuated over 800,000 people as a powerful typhoon that had flooded villages and left at least eight dead in the Philippines aimed for the country’s central region.

Hello and welcome back for another look at wild weather this week!

Typhoon Noru has left a trail of destruction in northern Philippine provinces with at least eight people dead, including a group of rescuers who were scrambling to save villagers trapped in floodwaters.

A powerful typhoon has gained strength while approaching the northeastern Philippines and has prompted evacuations of thousands of people including in capital Manila.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is telling leaders gathered at the United Nations that the world’s richest people have put its poorest at risk.

Philippine officials say President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved a recommendation to end the mandatory wearing of masks outdoors across the country more than two years after it was imposed at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

USA Basketball is on the brink of qualifying for next year’s World Cup.

The Philippine coast guard says a ferry carrying 82 passengers and crew has caught fire as it approached a port south of Manila and at least 73 of those aboard have been rescued.

The World Health Organization says the number of coronavirus deaths reported worldwide has fallen by 15% in the last week while new infections dropped by 9%.

Tropical Storm Ma-on is headed for Hong Kong and other parts of southeastern China after displacing thousands in the Philippines.

Millions of students wearing face masks are streaming back to schools across the Philippines for their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that are feared to have worsened alarming illiteracy rates among children.

Former Philippine President Fidel Ramos has been laid to rest in a state funeral.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is calling for calm in the Taiwan Strait, urging against any “provocative action” in the wake of a visit to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that has infuriated Beijing.

Former Philippine President Fidel Valdez Ramos, a U.S.-trained ex-general who saw action in the Korean and Vietnam wars and played a key role in a 1986 pro-democracy uprising that ousted a dictator, has died.