Latest Philippines News
China publicizes for the first time what it claims is a 2016 agreement with Philippines
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — For the first time, China has publicized what it claims is an unwritten 2016 agreement with the Philippines over access to South China Sea islands. The move threatens to further raise tensions in the disputed waterway, through which much of the world's trade...
Defense chiefs from US, Australia, Japan and Philippines vow to deepen cooperation
HONOLULU (AP) — Defense chiefs from the U.S., Australia, Japan and the Philippines vowed to deepen their cooperation as they gathered Thursday in Hawaii for their second-ever joint meeting amid concerns about China's operations in the South China Sea. The meeting came after the...
Chinese coast guard fires water cannons at Philippine vessels in the latest South China Sea incident
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Chinese coast guard ships fired water cannons at two Philippine patrol vessels Tuesday near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, damaging both in the latest flare-up in an increasingly tense territorial conflict. There were no immediate reports of...
United Methodists endorse change that could give regions more say on LGBTQ and other issues
United Methodist delegates have overwhelmingly endorsed a constitutional amendment seen by advocates as a way of defusing debates over the role of LGBTQ people in the church by giving rule-making autonomy to each region of the international church. Delegates voted 586-164 on Thursday...
Philippine police kill an Abu Sayyaf militant implicated in 15 beheadings and other atrocities
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine forces killed an Abu Sayyaf militant, who had been implicated in past beheadings, including of 10 Filipino marines and two kidnapped Vietnamese, in a clash in the south, police officials said Friday. Philippine police, backed by military...
France and the Philippines to start talks on a `visiting forces agreement,' French envoy says
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — France and the Philippines will begin talks next month on a defense pact that would allow troops from each country to hold exercises in the other’s territory, the French ambassador said Thursday. French and Philippine officials will meet in Paris next...
US and Philippine forces launch combat drills in the disputed South China Sea
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — American and Filipino forces launched their largest combat exercises in years Monday in a show of allied firepower near the disputed South China Sea that has alarmed Beijing. The annual exercises by the longtime treaty allies will run until May 10 and...
Remains of an Illinois soldier who died during WWII at a Japanese POW camp identified, military says
ELWOOD, Ill. (AP) — Military scientists have identified the remains of an Illinois soldier who died during World War II at a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in the Philippines. The remains of Army Pfc. Harry Jerele of Berkeley, Illinois, were identified in December, about 81 years...
Philippines' Marcos says 'not one person died' as police make huge drug bust, in dig at predecessor
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Tuesday police seized the largest haul of methamphetamine in the country in years without anybody being killed, in a subtle criticism of his predecessor’s notoriously deadly crackdown on illegal drugs. ...
The Philippine president says he won't give US access to more local military bases
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine president said Monday his administration has no plan to give the United States access to more Philippine military bases and stressed that the American military's presence in several camps and sites so far was sparked by China’s aggressive actions in the...
