Category Archives: Philippines

China’s defence chief repeats threat of force against Taiwanese independence

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Dong Jun rails at length about democratic island’s ‘separatists’ during Shangri-La Dialogue defence conference in Singapore

The Chinese defence minister, Dong Jun, has warned that anyone who dares pursue independence for Taiwan will be “crushed to pieces” and face “destruction”, as he accused external forces of dragging the island into “a dangerous situation”.

In a speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia’s biggest defence summit, Dong said Beijing was committed to “peaceful unification” with Taiwan, but that it was prepared “for all kinds of extreme situations” and that any attempts to seek independence would be futile.

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‘A catastrophe’: Greenpeace blocks planting of ‘lifesaving’ Golden Rice

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Thousands of children could die after court backs campaign group over GM crop in Philippines, scientists warn

Scientists have warned that a court decision to block the growing of the genetically modified (GM) crop Golden Rice in the Philippines could have catastrophic consequences. Tens of thousands of children could die in the wake of the ruling, they argue.

The Philippines had become the first country – in 2021 – to approve the commercial cultivation of Golden Rice, which was developed to combat vitamin A deficiency, a major cause of disability and death among children in many parts of the world.

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Broncos rally around Payne Haas after father arrested in the Philippines over alleged drug trafficking

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Gregor Johann Haas, 46, was arrested in Cebu City on Wednesday and is facing extradition to Indonesia, where he is accused of drug trafficking

Brisbane coach Kevin Walters says the club are supporting prop Payne Haas “in every way” after the player’s father was arrested in the Philippines and facing extradition to Indonesia, where he is accused of drug trafficking.

Gregor Johann Haas, 46, was arrested in Cebu City on Wednesday, according to local media reports.

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South China Sea: huge civilian Filipino flotilla heads to disputed shoal to ‘assert sovereign rights’

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Philippines coast guard and navy watch as wooden boats head to Scarborough shoal to place buoys and hand food packs to local fishers

A flotilla of about 100 mostly small fishing boats led by Filipino activists has set sail for a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, where Beijing’s coast guard and suspected militia ships have used powerful water cannon to ward off what they regard as intruders.

The Philippine coast guard and navy deployed one patrol ship each to keep watch from a distance on the activists and fishers, who set off on wooden boats with bamboo outriggers on Wednesday to assert Manila’s sovereignty over the Scarborough shoal. Dozens of journalists joined the three-day voyage.

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‘Impossible’ heatwave struck Philippines in April, scientists find

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Human-caused climate crisis brought soaring temperatures across Asia, from Gaza to Delhi to Manila

The record-breaking heatwave that scorched the Philippines in April would have been impossible without the climate crisis, scientists have found. Searing heat above 40C (104F) struck across Asia in April, causing deaths, water shortages, crop losses and widespread school closures.

The extreme heat was made 45 times more likely in India and five times more likely in Israel and Palestine, the study found. The scientists said the high temperatures compounded the already dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where displaced people are living in overcrowded shelters with little access to water.

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Ruined centuries-old town re-emerges as Philippines dam dries up during heatwave

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After a long spell of intense heat and little rain, water levels have fallen to reveal parts of a sunken church, tombstones and foundations at Pantabangan

Ruins of a centuries-old town have emerged at a dam parched by drought in the northern Philippines.

After a prolonged spell of intense heat and little rain, water levels in the dam have fallen to reveal parts of a sunken church, tombstones and the foundations of structures from the 300-year-old town in Nueva Ecija province.

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Jeepney strike under way in Philippines as deadline to modernise nears

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Government tells operators they must join cooperatives by Tuesday and gradually replace their vehicles with greener options

A three-day strike by drivers of jeepneys in the Philippines began on Monday as transport groups warned that thousands could be pushed off the roads by government modernisation plans.

The jeepney is the backbone of the Philippines’ transport system. The customised, privately-owned buses, which look like a cross between a Jeep and a van and are decorated in flamboyant colours, ply routes in neighbourhood streets and city centres, offering rides for as little as 13 pesos (23 US cents). They have featured in pop songs and films – Pope Francis even travelled through Manila in a jeepney-inspired popemobile.

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Wave of exceptionally hot weather scorches south and south-east Asia

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Warnings of dangerous temperatures across parts of Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh and India as hottest months of the year are made worse by El Niño

Millions of people across South and Southeast Asia are facing sweltering temperatures, with unusually hot weather forcing schools to close and threatening public health.

Thousands of schools across the Philippines, including in the capital region Metro Manila, have suspended in-person classes. Half of the country’s 82 provinces are experiencing drought, and nearly 31 others are facing dry spells or dry conditions, according to the UN, which has called for greater support to help the country prepare for similar weather events in the future. The country’s upcoming harvest will probably be below average, the UN said.

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China sounds warning after Philippines and US announce most expansive military drills yet

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Exercises starting on Monday will be the first to be held outside Philippines’ territorial waters, and come amid a rise in tensions in the South China Sea

Philippine and US forces will carry out their first ever military exercises outside the south-east Asian country’s territorial waters, in a move China has said will only lead to greater insecurity in the South China Sea.

The annual Balikatan or “shoulder-to-shoulder” drills – which will run from 22 April to 10 May – will involve 16,700 soldiers simulating retaking enemy-occupied islands in areas facing Taiwan and the South China Sea.

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Dynamic in South China Sea is changing through growing US and Japan ties, says Philippines president

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Ferdinand Marcos Jr says building trilateral ties vital, after the three countries criticise China’s ‘dangerous and aggressive behaviour’ in the region

A cooperation agreement by the Philippines, the United States and Japan will change the dynamic in the South China Sea and the region, the Philippine president has said, while seeking to assure China it was not a target.

“I think the trilateral agreement is extremely important,” Ferdinand Marcos Jr told a press conference in Washington on Friday, a day after meeting President Joe Biden and the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, in the nations’ first trilateral summit.

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Biden pledges to defend Philippines from any attack in South China Sea

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US president describes defence commitment to the Philippines and Japan as ‘ironclad’ as Beijing accuses Manila of violating Chinese sovereignty

Joe Biden has pledged to defend the Philippines from any attack in the South China Sea, as he hosted the first joint summit with Manila and Tokyo amid growing tensions with Beijing.

“The United States’ defence commitments to Japan and to the Philippines are ironclad,” the US president said on Thursday as he met the Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos and Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida.

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Schools close and crops wither as ‘historic’ heatwave hits south-east Asia

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Governments across region grappling for response as temperatures soar to unseasonable highs

Thousands of schools in the Philippines have stopped in-person classes due to unbearable heat. In Indonesia, prolonged dry weather has caused rice prices to soar. In Thailand’s waters, temperatures are so high that scientists fear coral could be destroyed.

A “historic heatwave” is being experienced across south-east Asia, according to Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist and weather historian. In updates posted on X, he said heat that was unprecedented for early April had been recorded at monitoring stations across the region this week, including in Minbu, in central Myanmar, where 44C was recorded – the first time in south-east Asia’s climatic history that such high temperatures had been reached so early in the month. In Hat Yai, in Thailand’s far south, 40.2 C was reached, an all-time record, while Yên Châu in north-west Vietnam hit 40.6C, unprecedented for this time of year.

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Manila accuses Beijing of ‘dangerous manoeuvres’ in South China Sea

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Philippines says vessels were damaged and four people injured after Chinese boats caused two collisions

The Philippines has accused China of “dangerous manoeuvres” in the disputed South China Sea that damaged its vessels and left four Filipinos with minor injuries, warning such action had put lives at risk.

The Philippines said Chinese coastguard and maritime militia vessels had caused two collisions, which led to superficial structural damage to the hull of one of its coastguard vessels. The simultaneous use of water cannon by two Chinese vessels against a civilian supply boat shattered the vessel’s windshield and caused minor injuries to at least four personnel onboard, according to a Philippine national taskforce.

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Philippines rescuers find girl alive 60 hours after landslide

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Three-year-old has given fresh hope of finding more survivors in a gold-mining village where death toll has climbed to 27

The rescue of a child nearly 60 hours after a landslide hit a gold-mining village in the southern Philippines has been hailed as a “miracle” after searchers had given up hope of finding more survivors.

The girl, who the Philippine Red Cross said was three years old, had been among scores of people missing after the rain-induced landslide hit the village.

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Philippines says it is ready to use force to quell secession attempts as Duterte row deepens

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Former president has called for his home town, Mindanao, to split from the Philippines as his alliance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr crumbles

The Philippine government is ready to use “authority and forces” against attempts to divide the nation, a security official has said, after former president Rodrigo Duterte threatened to separate some southern islands from the rest of the archipelago.

Duterte has called for the independence of his home town, Mindanao, from the Philippines as his alliance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr disintegrated this week over disagreements around efforts to amend the constitution.

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Duterte calls Philippine president ‘a drug addict’ as rift deepens

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Ferdinand Marcos Jr hits back with fentanyl insult amid breakdown in relations between political families

The former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte accused his successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, of being a drug addict who risked being ousted from office in an expletive-laden tirade that underlined the breakdown in relations between the two powerful political families.

Duterte’s speech on Sunday, in which he claimed Marcos Jr’s allies were trying to remove constitutional term limits so they could cling to power, follows long-running speculation about hostilities between the families.

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Weather tracker: Tropical Cyclone Kirrily brings 170km/h gusts to Queensland

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Cyclone downgraded after dense fog hits parts of the US and India while drought affects Philippines and southern Africa

Tropical Cyclone Kirrily made landfall on the coast of Queensland on Thursday night (local time). Kirrily originated as a tropical low over the Coral Sea, and gradually intensified over several days. The tropical cyclone then quickly intensified on Thursday, reaching a category 2 system by 10am AEST, and category 3 by 3pm, producing gusts of 170 km/h (105mph). As Kirrily moved inland five hours later, it left more than 34,000 homes and business without power in Townsville. However, the cyclone was quickly downgraded back to a category 1 by midnight.

Earlier in the week, dense fog developed from Montana all the way south to the Gulf of Mexico, reducing visibility on Tuesday to less than a quarter mile for many. The combination of last week’s arctic blast, followed by the introduction of warmer air from the south this week, allowed water vapour to condense closer to the surface, which is also known as advection fog. Dense fog reappeared on Thursday morning, affecting just under 99 million people from North Dakota across to central Pennsylvania, and as far south as New Orleans.

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Philippines president sparks outcry for using presidential helicopter to see Coldplay concert

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Ferdinand Marcos Jr was flown in because concert-goers created ‘unforeseen traffic complications’, bodyguards say

Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr has been criticised for using a presidential helicopter to attend a Coldplay concert north of the capital Manila, bypassing the area’s notorious traffic jams.

On social media, many accused the president of wasting taxpayers’ money, and pointed out that the public has to endure Metro Manila’s infamous traffic daily while commuting.

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‘I feel like a criminal for quitting’: nurses in the US fight ‘stay or pay’ agreements

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Filipino nurses for Ohio-based company say they have been forced to pay thousands in fees after signing training contracts

Filipino nurses are calling for the US’s top labor watchdog to review controversial “stay or pay” training repayment agreement provisions that have left them facing lawsuits and thousands of dollars in fees after they quit their jobs.

Training repayment agreement provisions (Trap) are contracts employers require workers to sign before beginning a job and stipulate that if a worker leaves the job before a specified time, they owe substantial fees.

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Festive cheer for Filipino fishers after supply boat evades Chinese vessels

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Boat from Philippines with gifts for fishers, troops and coastguard in South China Sea slipped past vessels that intercepted festive flotilla

It looked, for a time, as if Christmas had been cancelled. A Philippine mission by volunteers to bring the festive spirit to the fishers, troops and coastguard crew in the disputed South China Sea was forced to turn back on Sunday after organisers said they had been shadowed and intercepted by Chinese vessels.

But it later emerged that a smaller supply boat had managed to slip past the Chinese vessels.

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