SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – As China continues to bully the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed an executive order strengthening the country’s maritime security According to Executive Order No. 57, released by the Presidential Communications Office on Sunday, March 31, the President ordered the bolstering of the country’s maritime security […]

SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Palawan deployed to Pag-asa Island a team of doctors, nurses, and teachers. “This initiative marks a significant stride in advancing the well-being and educational prospects of residents inhabiting Pagasa Island and neighboring areas,” said Coast Guard District in a Facebook post on Friday, March 29. […]

SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – A peaceful resolution steered by a firm hand. This is what President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured Filipinos on Thursday, March 28, in light of China’s latest intimidation in the West Philippine Sea. The President said he has already given directives to the country’s national security and defense officials and has been […]

SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines and criticized as “dangerous” China’s use of water cannon and disruption of a Philippine resupply mission last week. In a phone call on Wednesday with his Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro, Austin “reaffirmed the ironclad US commitment […]

SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – Journalist groups in the Philippines on Wednesday, March 27, criticized China’s foreign ministry and its embassy in Manila over claims that journalists who embed in the Philippines’ rotation and resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal “manipulate” their work to “project the Philippines as a victim.”  “The association strongly rejects and condemns the […]

SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – Addressing the International Parliamentarian Union (IPU), Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri appealed to fellow members of the global organization to stand with the Philippines as China continues to bully the country in the West Philippine Sea. “In the West Philippine Sea, a number of geopolitical analysts have predicted that it could […]

SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The issue of escalating tensions between Manila and Beijing in the West Philippine Sea was put into the spotlight during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s meeting with a US congressional delegation in Malacañang on Tuesday, March 26. A press release from the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said the American lawmakers expressed support […]

SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – When the Unaizah May 4 approached Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea for a second time in a month, it was greeted by a familiar and violent foe: water cannons from the China Coast Guard (CCG).  On Saturday, March 23, out at sea, the wooden ship held on, but barely. […]

SUMMARY Are you reading this as blue waves sway under blue skies at the onset of your Holy Week break? Or are you, like most of us mortals in the newsroom, tied to your laptop and to the labors that must be done even in the Catholic world’s supposedly quietest week? “No rest for the wicked” […]

SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines on Monday, March 25, questioned if China was sincere in “lowering the tensions and promoting peace and stability in the South China Sea” as it protested yet another case of harassment by the China Coast Guard (CCG) and Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM) during a mission to bring soldiers and […]