National

Philippine president defends massive operation to arrest celebrity pastor

By Neil Jerome Morales MANILA (Reuters) – Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr defended on Tuesday the deployment of 2,000 police officers at the weekend to arrest an influential pastor accused of sex trafficking who is a longtime friend of the country’s former president. Police think Apollo Quiboloy, a self-proclaimed “owner of the universe” and “appointed son of god”, is hiding in a bunker at the sprawling compound owned by his church, the Kingdom of Jesus […]

China, Philippines clash in South China Sea despite efforts to rebuild trust

MANILA/BEIJING (Reuters) – The Philippines and China clashed in disputed waters of the South China Sea on Sunday over what Manila said was a resupply mission for fishermen, the latest in a series of sea and air confrontations in the strategic waterway. The incident overshadows efforts by both nations to rebuild trust and better manage disputes after months of confrontations, including a violent clash in June where a Filipino sailor lost a finger. The Philippines […]

Philippines urges China to halt ‘provocative’ actions after flare incidents

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines called on Beijing on Saturday to “immediately cease all provocative and dangerous actions” after accusing it of “unjustifiably” deploying flares from China-occupied Subi Reef on Aug. 22 while a Manila aircraft was conducting patrols. The same aircraft also “faced harassment” from a Chinese jet fighter while it was conducting a surveillance flight near Scarborough Shoal on Aug. 19, the Philippines’ South China Sea Task Force said in a statement. “Such […]

Philippines says recent mpox case is mild Clade 2 variant

MANILA (Reuters) -The Philippines’ health minister said on Wednesday a recently detected mpox case in the Southeast Asian nation is of the mild Clade 2 variant and not the newer variant that has spread rapidly in Africa. “The mpox we found was the original variety and probably it could have been circulating in our community,” Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa told ANC news channel. The Southeast Asian nation on Monday announced its first mpox case this […]

Philippines detects new mpox case, first since December 2023

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines has detected a new case of the mpox virus in the country, the first since December last year, its health department said on Monday, adding it was awaiting test results before being able to determine the strain. The patient was a 33-year-old Filipino male who had no travel history outside the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) said. “We are awaiting sequencing results and will update once available,” its spokesperson […]

Philippines, China trade blame after vessels collide in the South China Sea

BEIJING/MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines and China accused each other on Monday of ramming vessels and performing dangerous manoeuvres in the South China Sea, the latest flare-up after the two nations had agreed to try to ease tensions and manage disagreements at sea. China’s Coast Guard said in a statement a Philippine vessel which had ignored its repeated warnings “deliberately collided” with a Chinese vessel in an “unprofessional and dangerous” manner in the disputed waterway […]

Carlos Edriel Yulo wins historic gold for Philippines with floor exercise title

By Chang-Ran Kim and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber PARIS, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Carlos Edriel Yulo produced a spectacular performance to win the men’s floor exercise final at the Paris Games on Saturday, earning Philippines their first-ever Olympic medal in gymnastics. Yulo’s gold medal is also only the second-ever top prize won by the Philippines across both the Summer and Winter Games, and the first in the men’s category. Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz struck gold in Tokyo three […]

Magnitude 6.7 earthquake strikes off Mindanao, Philippines, GFZ says

(Reuters) -An earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck off the eastern shore of the island of Mindanao in the Philippines on Saturday, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) said. The quake was at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles), GFZ said. The U.S. Geological Survey said pegged the magnitude at 6.8. The U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center said that there was no tsunami threat from the earthquake. Philippine seismology agency PHIVOLCS said in an […]

US pledges funds to boost Philippine defences amid China disputes

By Simon Lewis and Karen Lema MANILA (Reuters) -The United States on Tuesday pledged funding of $500 million for the Philippines‘ military and coast guard in a big show of support for Manila as it faces Chinese actions in disputed waters in the South China Sea. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met their Philippine counterparts in Manila to reaffirm Washington’s unwavering commitment to its oldest treaty ally in Asia. “This […]

Philippines says China ‘mischaracterised’ South China Sea resupply mission deal

  MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines’ foreign ministry accused China on Sunday of ‘mischaracterising’ an arrangement between them that allowed the unimpeded resupply of Filipino troops stationed on a beached naval vessel in the South China Sea. After repeated clashes in the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, the two countries reached a “provisional arrangement” earlier this month on resupply missions to soldiers stationed at the Sierra Madre, a naval vessel Manila deliberately grounded in 1999 to […]

Philippines says tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of oil capsizes in Manila Bay

MANILA, July 25, 2024 (AFP) – A Philippine-flagged tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel oil capsized and sank off Manila on Thursday, authorities said, as they sought to contain a spill stretching several kilometres. The MT Terra Nova had been heading for the central city of Iloilo when it sank in Manila Bay, nearly seven kilometres (4.3 miles) off Limay municipality in Bataan province, near the capital, in the early hours. Strong winds […]

President Marcos urges swift relief as Typhoon Carina and monsoon batter the Philippines

Manila, July 24, 2024 – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has urged government agencies to prioritize assistance to isolated areas affected by Typhoon Carina (international name: Gaemi) and the intensified southwest monsoon, known locally as “habagat,” which continue to bring heavy rains to parts of the country. In a briefing held at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Marcos commended the government’s response efforts thus far. He instructed the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) […]