SUMMARY US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell raised concerns about China’s “destabilizing actions in the South China Sea” with the country’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu during a call on Thursday, June 27, the State Department said. “The Deputy Secretary also reiterated that US commitments to the Philippines under the Mutual Defense Treaty remain […]
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – In a rare move, Chinese-Filipino business groups and civic organizations have issued a collective statement calling for a “de-escalation” of bilateral tensions between the Philippines and China more than a week after a Philippine soldier lost his thumb in another clash between the two countries in the West Philippine Sea. In […]
SUMMARY Almost without fail, whenever I am away or I go on a break, breaking news happens. This recent short vacation, which ended today, June 27, was no exception. Former senator and justice secretary Leila de Lima was cleared of all drug charges, Vice President Sara Duterte quit as education secretary and deputy of the […]
SUMMARY Almost without fail, whenever I am away or I go on a break, breaking news happens. This recent short vacation, which ended today, June 27, was no exception. Former senator and justice secretary Leila de Lima was cleared of all drug charges, Vice President Sara Duterte quit as education secretary and deputy of the […]
SUMMARY Claim: A social media post shows the Philippine Navy air-dropping packages onto the BRP Sierra Madre (LS-57) in Ayungin Shoal. Why we fact-checked this: The Facebook post containing the claim was posted on June 23 by a page with 54,000 followers, and has 2,300 shares, 7,000 comments, and 53,000 reactions as of writing. The […]
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The China Coast Guard’s (CCG) effort to disrupt Manila’s resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal on June 17 was not armed an attack, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in his first media interview since the incident. The incident – which severely injured a Filipino soldier – saw CCG officers use tear gas, […]
SUMMARY On Wednesday, June 26, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo delivered the keynote address at the East-West Center’s 2024 International Media Conference, which Manila hosted for the first time. The conference is held once every two years and brings together journalists from the United States, Asia, and the Pacific to discuss key regional issues and […]
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – United States Ambassador to Manila MaryKay Carlson on Wednesday, June 26, urged China to “cease harassment of Philippine vessels,” more than a week after Chinese harassment resulted in the mutilation of a Filipino soldier’s thumb. “When the United States sees our partners being bullied in their backyard, we speak up. And […]
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – One of the Philippines’ most popular Catholic bishops launched a 50-day rosary campaign beginning Thursday, June 27, to defend the Philippines from China as tensions rise in the West Philippine Sea. Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said the rosary campaign will run until August 15, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, […]
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines filed a protest over China’s disruption of a June 17 resupply mission to a military outpost in the West Philippine Sea, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo told reporters Wednesday, June 26. Manalo said that a note verbale had been sent by the Philippines. “We have already sent a note […]