West Philippine Sea
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US envoy tells China: ‘Cease harassment of Philippine vessels’
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 […]
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Archbishop Villegas starts rosary campaign to defend Philippines from China
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, […]
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Philippines files protest vs China over ‘aggressive’ acts in Ayungin resupply
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 […]
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China blocked evacuation of injured soldier from Ayungin Shoal
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – Even until the very end – as Filipino soldiers were trying to evacuate a severely injured comrade from Ayungin Shoal to mainland Palawan – personnel of the China Coast Guard (CCG) blocked and harassed Philippine ships in the West Philippine Sea. The disclosure was made by the injured soldier himself, Seaman […]
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[Just Saying] Invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty
SUMMARY Apparently alluding to the Ayungin shoal incident where China Coast Guard personnel attacked Filipino soldiers with knives and clubs to prevent them from delivering supplies, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently said: “We are not in the business to instigate wars.” Unfortunately, such statement – sounding so cliché – does not rise to the level of a declaration exuding national […]
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[Just Saying] Invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty
SUMMARY Apparently alluding to the Ayungin shoal incident where China Coast Guard personnel attacked Filipino soldiers with knives and clubs to prevent them from delivering supplies, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently said: “We are not in the business to instigate wars.” Unfortunately, such statement – sounding so cliché – does not rise to the level of a declaration exuding national […]
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[Rappler’s Best] Divided we fall
SUMMARY In case you missed it, Vladimir Putin was in the neighborhood – driving a limousine with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, signing a military pact with the rogue state, and then flying to Hanoi, where he earned lavish praise from its communist leaders. That’s enough to rattle an already-rattled region that, early in June, played […]
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View from Manila: ‘Twas a weekend of ‘misunderstanding’ over Ayungin Shoal
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – With a chuckle, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, chairperson of the newly-formed National Maritime Council, sought to shoot down talk of invoking the Philippines-US Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) over the Chinese coast guard’s harassment of a June 17 military resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). “This was […]
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‘Not a misunderstanding’: PH changes tune on China’s Ayungin harassment
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – Days after the newly-established National Maritime Council (NCM) called the Chinese harassment of a June 17 resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal a “misunderstanding” and recommended to “announce” future resupply missions, the Philippines has changed its tune, now describing Chinese actions in the West Philippine Sea as “deliberate.” “After our visit to […]
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[OPINION] Ayungin and why PH should respond as one team, one nation
SUMMARY The BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal is the symbol of our commitment to defend our sovereignty and protect our sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). On the downside, our approach to it also reflects the lack of coherence in the government’s strategy in the face of Beijing’s coercive tactics at sea. […]