West Philippine Sea
-
View from Manila: Kicking diplomats out won’t solve the West Philippine Sea problem
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – As a Senate panel grilled Bamban Mayor Alice Guo last week about her curious life, another committee interrogated Filipino diplomats over what it would take for the Philippines to expel a Chinese diplomat following an alleged wiretapping of his phone call with a military general. Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, the dismissed chief of the military’s Western…
-
Philippines hits China’s ‘unilateral’ fishing ban for raising tensions in West Philippine Sea
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced on Monday, May 27, that it had filed a protest over China’s “imposition of a unilateral, four-month-long fishing moratorium” that began on May 1 and is expected to stay in place until September 16, 2024. In a statement, the DFA said it “protested the ban insofar as it includes…
-
Ramon Ang: Protect West Philippine Sea to help curb inflation
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – Ramon Ang, one of the richest Filipino tycoons, has a proposal to curb pesky inflation: protect the West Philippine Sea and further tap its gas reserves. In an economic forum on Monday, May 27, government economic managers discussed the ways to bring inflation within target range, including managing interest rates and addressing supply chain bottlenecks. When…
-
DFA warns China’s new coast guard regulation violates international law
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Sunday, May 26, warned that China will be going against international law if it pushes through with its newest coast guard regulation. In a statement, DFA expressed “serious concern” about the new regulation that would enable the Chinese Coast Guard to apprehend people it deemed “trespassers” in its waters,…
-
DFA: Global maritime court’s advisory opinion bolsters 2016 West PH Sea ruling
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Saturday, May 26, highlighted an advisory opinion released by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) which cited the historic 2016 Hague ruling that favored the Philippines against China. In a statement released on Saturday, May 26, DFA said the opinion “bolsters and reinforces the legitimacy”…
-
[Vantage Point] The Manchurian candidates
SUMMARY Just when I thought that the Senate inquiry about the supposed “gentleman’s agreement” with China on the maritime conduct in Ayungin Shoal couldn’t get any murkier, here comes former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea claiming that the supposed agreement was made in 2013, halfway into the presidency of the late of Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. His allegation – an obvious defense…
-
PRIMER: Marcos’ state visit to Brunei, defense summit speech in Singapore in May 2024
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is making back-to-back visits to the Philippines’ neighbors in Southeast Asia next week, in response to invitations sent by leaders of these countries. The first stop will be Brunei on May 28 to 29, followed by a trip to Singapore until the 31st. Here are the things you need to know about…
-
Teodoro slams China Coast Guard regulation as ‘provocation’
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – Speaking before officers of the Philippine Navy, Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro on Friday, May 24, criticized China’s newest coast guard regulation as a “provocation,” amid rising tensions between Manila and Beijing. “I believe what a provocation is, is the roguish and irresponsible threat to detain quote-unquote ‘trespassers’ in what is claimed as internal waters, but is…
-
FACT CHECK: Marcos did not declare war against China
SUMMARY Claim: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared war against China. Why we fact-checked this: The video bearing the claim has 7,700 views, 551 likes, and 94 comments. The YouTube page that uploaded the video, which has 216,000 subscribers, is notorious for spreading disinformation. Text on the video’s thumbnail implies that Marcos has declared war: “PBBM nagdeklara na! Naglabas na…
-
No reason to probe Wescom chief over call with China embassy, says Navy
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Navy’s spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea said on Friday, May 24, there was no reason to investigate a Naval commander embroiled in controversy over a wiretapped conversation with the defense attache of Chinese embassy in Manila. Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, newly-appointed Naval Inspector General and the Navy’s concurrent spokesperson for the West Philippine…