Sam Galope
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A Fresh Start: Our Website is Getting a Makeover!
Discover the exciting updates coming to our website! Learn about the redesign, improved features, and how we’re enhancing your browsing experience. Stay connected for the b
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Senior Republican lawmakers ask Biden for options to support Philippines in Beijing standoff
SUMMARY WASHINGTON, USA – Two senior Republican US senators have asked President Joe Biden to provide a complete list of options developed by the Pentagon and State Department to help support the Philippines in recent standoffs with Beijing over a contested shoal in the South China Sea. Central to tensions is the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, where the […]
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Why is the China Coast Guard’s biggest ship still in Escoda Shoal?
SUMMARY For over two months now, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)’s BRP Teresa Magbanua has been keeping watch over Escoda (Sabina) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, because of concerns that China is trying to build yet another “artificial island.” Escoda Shoal is very close – just some 75 nautical miles away – to the […]
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Another time’s the charm? Manila, Beijing OK presidential hotline on West Philippine Sea
SUMMARY The Philippines and China have expanded a previous maritime communication mechanism covering the West Philippine Sea, as tensions rise in waters that are within Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) but that Beijing claims at its own. In a Wednesday, July 17 statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the two countries signed an […]
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First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos dons 3 stars as newest Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary officer
SUMMARY Liza Araneta-Marcos, lawyer and wife to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., just got a new title: Vice Admiral of the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary (PCGA), or the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)’s volunteer force. The First Lady officially joined the PCGA’s Executive Squadron in a ceremony aboard the BRP Gabriela Silang on Tuesday, July 16, according […]
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WATCH: A Catholic archbishop sails West Philippine Sea to pray for China
MANILA, Philippines – Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas led a fluvial procession on Tuesday morning, July 16, to pray for peace in the face of China’s aggressive behavior in the West Philippine Sea. The Marian prayer voyage was held off the coast of Barangay Cato in Infanta, Pangasinan, after a 6 am Mass led by Villegas […]
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Turning point: Aftermath of failed resupply mission to Ayungin
SUMMARY In the coastal town of Rizal in Palawan, under the cover of darkness, four Navy boats prepared to sail. It was June 17, probably past midnight, and they were going on a mission to replace the personnel on board the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal as well as replenish supplies. Jeffrey Facundo, underwater operator of the elite […]
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[Rappler’s Best] America
SUMMARY Just when we thought the US presidential campaign had turned to its most bizarre path, with reelectionist President Joe Biden mumbling and fumbling and causing nightmares among Democrats, a 20-year-old American was shot dead after shooting former president Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday evening, July 13 (US time). Trump […]
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View from Manila: 8 years after Arbitral Award, enforcing it still a pipe dream
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – Like clockwork, ministries and their embassies issue statements when July 12, the anniversary of the landmark landmark 2016 Arbitral Ruling, rolls in. Philippine agencies do the same. Every year, too, the Philippines’ allies and friends – “like-minded” countries that are active and outspoken in supporting the ruling and the Philippines’ efforts […]
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WATCH: What the 2016 arbitral ruling says and doesn’t say about the West Philippine Sea
MANILA, Philippines – Every 12th of July, the Philippines – and its allies and friends – commemorate the 2016 arbitral award, a landmark ruling that said China’s sweeping 9-dash-line claim had no basis in international law. The ruling is part of the foundation the Philippines stands on in asserting its sovereign rights and sovereignty claims […]