Latest Philippines government News

China says a US Navy ship 'illegally intruded' into waters in the South China Sea
BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese military said that an American naval ship had “illegally intruded” on Monday into waters near the Second Thomas Shoal, the site of a hot territorial dispute between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. A Chinese naval force was mobilized...

Philippine president blames foreign militants for a bombing that killed 4 Christian worshippers
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine president blamed “foreign terrorists” for a bomb blast that killed four people Sunday, wounded dozens of other Catholic worshippers in the south and sparked a security alarm, including in the capital, Manila, where state forces were put on alert. ...

7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes off the southern Philippines, briefly prompting a tsunami warning
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 struck Saturday off the southern Philippine coast, prompting many villagers to flee their homes in panic around midnight after Philippine authorities issued a tsunami warning. The quake struck at...

France and Philippines eye a security pact to allow joint military combat exercises
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — France and the Philippines are considering a defense pact that would allow them to send military forces to each other’s territory for joint exercises, the Philippine defense chief said Saturday after holding talks with his French counterpart. Gilberto...
Philippines says China has executed two Filipinos convicted of drug trafficking despite appeals
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — China has executed two Filipinos for drug trafficking despite high-level Philippine government appeals to commute their death sentences to life in prison, the Philippine government said Saturday. The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila did not...
Philippine troops kill 11 Islamic militants in one of bloodiest anti-insurgency offensives this year
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine troops, backed by airstrikes and artillery fire, killed 11 suspected Islamic militants near a hinterland village in the country’s south, authorities said Saturday, in one of the military’s bloodiest anti-insurgency offensives this year. The...

The Philippines opens a new monitoring base on a remote island in the disputed South China Sea
THITU ISLAND, South China Sea (AP) — The Philippines inaugurated a new coast guard monitoring base Friday on an island occupied by Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea and plans to expand joint patrols with the United States and Australia to counter China’s “pure bullying” in the...

China says US arms sales to Taiwan are turning the island into a 'powder keg'
BEIJING (AP) — China's defense ministry said Thursday that the U.S. should stop interfering in both Taiwan and the South China Sea, saying U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are making the situation more dangerous. Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party is “turning Taiwan into a...
Editorial Roundup: United States
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: Nov. 27 The Washington Post on a new border deal Republicans have one thing right about the border: The Biden administration’s strategy to keep asylum seekers from flocking to the United...

Philippine government and communist rebels agree to resume talks on ending their protracted conflict
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Philippine government and the country’s communist rebels have agreed to resume talks aimed at ending decades of armed conflict, one of Asia's longest, Norwegian mediators announced Tuesday. High-ranking delegations from both sides met in the...
