The US Army is starting a new training program in the Philippines to get better at fighting in tough conditions like jungles and islands. They want to make sure they have enough ammo and other supplies to be ready for anything. A US general talked about it.
The Biden government is building up military partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region to be better prepared for any conflict with China, especially regarding Taiwan. The US is helping the Philippines strengthen its defenses and respond better to natural disasters, especially with China’s disputes in the South China Sea.
Around 2,000 soldiers from the US and the Philippines will have training exercises using helicopters and artillery in the jungle in the northern Philippines in June. This was announced by Major General Marcus Evans, who leads the US Army’s 25th Infantry Division.
Manila has asked for the combat training to take place in the Philippines for the first time. It’s not certain if the long-time treaty partners will choose to make the exercises happen every year, according to Evans.
The drills from June 1 to 10 will happen after two other big exercises between the allied forces – the Salaknib army exercises, which started on Monday, and the Balikatan, which will involve about 16,000 US and Philippine forces and will start later in April. Many countries, including Japan, will send people to watch and learn.
“We need to be ready to help with humanitarian and natural disaster situations, and this training gives us the chance to do that,” Evans said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “We are confident in our training, but we can’t be too relaxed about it. ”
The drill in June will help us improve our preparedness for battle, strengthen our partnerships, and enhance our skills by working together in a tough environment, according to Evans.
The training was set up to be watched live and show what supplies the US and Philippine forces would bring, like ammunition, batteries, and food, and how they would get more supplies in a faraway battlefield.
Evans said it is a way for soldiers, leaders, and units to see how they perform in a pretend battle.
The training in Hawaii has helped small and fast combat units share information better and improve how long they can fight. It helped us to survive in a jungle and island environment because we can’t rely on normal communication lines. We have to use planes or ships to bring supplies.
Last year, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. became the President of the Philippines. He supported his choice to let the US military be in more Philippine military bases under a 2014 defense agreement, saying it was important for his country’s protection of its land.
China told the Philippines that having more American soldiers there would bring them into a lot of trouble with other countries.
Rescuers had stopped thinking they would find more people alive, but then they were amazed to rescue the child on Friday. They called it a miracle.
A big mass of earth and rocks fell down near a village where people mine for gold in the Davao de Oro province in Mindanao on Tuesday.
Authorities report that 28 people have passed away and around 77 are still unaccounted for.
Pictures and a video on the Philippine Red Cross Facebook page show rescue workers taking the girl, who is wrapped in a blanket and connected to an oxygen tank, to a hospital in Mawab municipality.
He said to AFP: “That makes the rescuers feel hopeful. ” Children are not as strong as adults, but this child still made it through.
Randy Loy, who is in charge of handling disasters in Davao de Oro province, said at a press meeting, “We still want to rescue more people even though it has been four days. ”
However, he cautioned that they cannot promise to survive after 48 hours.
The landslide happened on Tuesday night and destroyed houses. It also covered three buses and a type of minibus that were waiting to pick up workers from the gold mine.
The Philippines say that China used water cannons to stop three of its boats in a disagreement over who owns land in the South China Sea.
A video shows Chinese ships spraying strong blasts of water at Philippine government boats.
The Philippines said that China’s actions were against the law and were aggressive.
The South China Sea is a place where China, the Philippines, and other countries are arguing about who owns it.
The event occurred close to Scarborough Shoal, which is a place where there is often tension between the two countries. In 2012, Beijing took control of the shoal and Chinese boats have been bothering Philippine fishermen there ever since.
The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea reported that Chinese Coast Guard ships used water cannons to stop government boats from bringing fuel and food to fishing boats.
The agency strongly disapproves of the illegal and aggressive actions.
Beijing said it had taken action to control ships that entered its waters without permission.
Earlier this week, the Philippines said that China sent a lot of military boats to a reef near their coast in the South China Sea.
The Philippines will send 40 boats with Christmas gifts and supplies to people on Thitu island, the biggest island they live on in the South China Sea.
The two countries have been arguing more since Ferdinand Marcos Jr became president of the Philippines last year. They both claim to own the same land.
Last month, the Philippines worked together with the US and Australia to do two air and sea patrols.
In 2016, a global court said China’s claim to 90% of the South China Sea is not valid. But China doesn’t agree with the decision and has been making islands in the area where other countries also say it’s theirs.
The disputed waters are causing tension between China and the US. In October, US President Joe Biden said that the US will protect the Philippines if there is an attack.
President Biden talked about the collisions between boats from the Philippines and China that happened a few days ago.
Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Brunei say that they also own parts of the sea.
Authorities said that eight people who were injured in the terrible crash in Hamtic, Antique province, are in critical condition.
The person driving the bus also died when the bus went off the road, crashed through a concrete barrier, and fell 100 feet down the mountain.
Ronniel Pabustan, a crisis responder from Antique province, said that the driver was honking the horn a lot because he seemed to have lost control of the bus. Then the bus fell into a deep valley.
Many people, like police, soldiers, and emergency workers, worked together to bring the injured people up from the steep valley using stretchers and ropes.
“He said it’s very sad and painful because it happened near Christmas. ”
The search for victims ended last night.
Local leaders were told to call for help if they find any more people at the site of the accident in a dense forest at the bottom of the valley.
The police and ambulance came quickly to the place where the bus crashed at about 4pm while it was going to Cusi town.
Efforts to rescue the survivors took a long time because the ravine was very steep and there was no cell phone service in the area.
Roderick Train, who leads the Antique disaster agency, said: ‘The bus fell from a high place because this road is in the mountains. ‘
That’s why a lot of people got hurt.
The Hamtic-Iloilo road is a dangerous place for accidents, and the witnesses said the cause was a mechanical problem.
The driver couldn’t control the car – maybe the brakes stopped working.
Antique governor Rhodora Cadiao said, “I can’t tell the families not to worry. ”
“We want to make sure you know that we will take care of any hospital stays, medications, and other things you may need. ”
Bus company Vallacar Transit, Inc. The company (VTI) said it is willing to help with investigations and will add 12 more buses to their franchise until the issue is solved.
The company said it will help the passengers and their families and pay for medical and burial costs.
In the Philippines, there are a lot of accidents on the road because the roads are not well-built and people don’t always follow the rules. This is a big problem for keeping people safe.
After 14 people died and 30 others got hurt in a bus crash in Thailand. The driver fell asleep.
An elephant, named one of the saddest in the world by activists, has passed away at a zoo in the Philippines. She spent most of her life alone in a small area.
People have shown their love and respect for Mali, who was the most popular animal at Manila Zoo for forty years.
The only lonely elephant in the country has been worrying animal rights activists for a long time.
One of them was Sir Paul McCartney, who wanted Mali to be moved to a safe place for elephants called a sanctuary.
Mali died on Tuesday and the Mayor of Manila, Honey Lacuna, told everyone in a Facebook video. She said going to the zoo to see Mali was one of her best memories as a kid.
On Friday, the vet at the zoo said the Asian elephant was in pain because she kept rubbing her trunk on the wall.
On Tuesday morning, Mali was laying on her side and taking deep breaths. The vets gave her medicine for allergies and vitamins, but she died in the afternoon. The doctors found that she had cancer in some of her body parts and a blockage in her heart’s main artery.
Mali, also known as Vishwa Ma’ali, was given as a gift to the former first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos, by the Sri Lankan government in 1981 when she was almost a year old. Manila Zoo also had another elephant named Shiva, who came in 1977 and passed away in 1990. Mali was the only elephant at the zoo for a long time. During the worst part of the pandemic, Manila Zoo also helped give vaccinations to children. Mali the elephant was there to make the kids happy.
Animal lovers were angry about the bad conditions at Manila Zoo and said the people taking care of the animals didn’t have the right tools to help Mali when she was sick. The zoo staff said the elephant should stay in the zoo because she doesn’t know how to live in the wild.
“I want to join the many people who are supporting moving Mali, the lonely elephant at Manila Zoo, to a sanctuary in Thailand as soon as we can,” he said.
Morrissey, the singer from the band The Smiths, also wrote a letter to try to help Mali, but she is still at Manila Zoo.
Peta said a very sad elephant from around the world has died. “Rest well, Mali. You should have had better. ”
On X, who used to be called Twitter, Filipinos from different generations remembered how they used to visit Mali during school field trips in Manila. They were sad that Mali died without any company.
One person remembered seeing Mali for the first time 11 years ago. “When you see Mali walking, you can tell that she is very lonely. ” It made me really sad. It was said that Mali has died.
“Feeling sad because Mali, the famous elephant in the Philippines, has died. ” “I hope there won’t be any more elephants kept in zoos,” another person on X said.
During a meeting with the media, the mayor of Manila said she wants to ask the government of Sri Lanka for a new elephant to be given to the Philippine capital.
She said that the people who took care of Mali for a long time were very sad about her death. She also mentioned that they never thought about moving Mali to a sanctuary because she had been kept captive for so long.
“Even though she looked lonely, we were there for her,” Ms Lacuna said in Tagalog, her voice shaking. “She was the person who welcomed everyone at Manila Zoo. ” She is important to us and is a big part of our lives.
A person who talks on the radio in the Philippines was killed while doing a live show.
Juan Jumalon, also called DJ Johnny Walker, got shot while inside his home studio, as per the police.
President Marcos Jr strongly criticized the killing of the radio journalist in very strong words.
According to the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines, four journalists have been murdered since Mr. Marcos Jr became the leader in June 2022.
“The attack is even more wrong because it happened at Jumalon’s own home, where the radio station was located,” the union stated.
Mr Jumalon was using Facebook to show a live video at about 5:30 in the morning when someone came into the room where he was recording and shot him.
Based on reports from the local media and information from the police, the suspect requested permission to enter Mr. Jumalon’s radio booth in order to announce something important on the radio.
The police have obtained CCTV footage in that area.
Mr Jumalon’s shows are usually played on 94. 7 Gold Mega Calamba FM Facebook page, which has about 2,400 people who follow it.
The DJ’s wife rushed him to the hospital right after the incident, but unfortunately, the doctors confirmed that he was already dead when they reached there.
The police said they did not know about any previous dangers to his life.
The president shared on X platform that he told the police to do a careful investigation to quickly catch and punish the people responsible.
According to Freedom House, a US organization, the Philippines is considered to be one of the most unsafe countries for journalists.
Look closely at a video of the crash between a ship from the Philippine coastguard and a ship from a Chinese maritime militia in the South China Sea on Sunday.
In simple words: In the middle of the ship, a Filipino TV crew is rushing to film a scene where someone talks to the camera while two parts of the ship hit each other.
Manila and Beijing have been fighting over underwater areas in the South China Sea for a long time.
However, over the past few months, something has been different. The arguments happening in the open sea are now being shown on TV for everyone to see. Philippine journalists have filmed a close encounter near a sensitive reef called Second Thomas Shoal, Ayungin Shoal, or Ren Ai Reef. This is the second time this has happened in weeks.
This isn’t a coincidence. The Philippine government wants to draw attention to China’s aggressive actions in controlling the waters that belong to Manila.
I believe we have noticed a big difference this year. Retired Colonel Raymond Powell from Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center describes it as a straightforward transparency campaign.
In January, the Philippine government started giving more videos of the incidents to local news outlets. During the summer, it started allowing more and more journalists, including the BBC, to go on their boats and planes that were going to the disputed waters.
Colonel Powell says that the situation has been made clear and visible, like turning on a light, to reveal China’s secret activities.
China seems to have been surprised by these new methods.
According to Oriana Skylar Mastro from the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, there was a period where it seemed like the strategy was effective. Mastro explains, “We noticed a brief pause in China’s actions. ”
Beijing relaxed its grip, and Manila was able to bring in more supplies to a place it has on Second Thomas Shoal – an old landing ship from World War II called the Sierra Madre.
In 1999, someone purposely made the ship crash into the reef. Since then, a very small group of Filipino marines has been guarding alone on an old, decaying ship as it slowly breaks apart. In 2014, a group from BBC went on the ship. Even at that time, it was in really bad shape with big holes on its sides, and waves were splashing inside the building.
Most experts think that China has been happy to think and plan for the future. When China and the Philippines have had good relations, China’s coastguard has allowed supplies to be delivered to the Sierra Madre. When people are not getting along, they have stopped the ships from bringing more supplies.
However, Beijing believes that eventually the Philippines will have to remove their marines from the Sierra Madre ship because it won’t last much longer and will eventually collapse into the sea.
During the six years that former president Rodrigo Duterte was in power, it seemed that this belief was likely true. However, ever since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr was elected last year, the Philippines’ foreign policy has completely changed direction. President Marcos has changed President Duterte’s policy of befriending China and instead has gone back to being close with the United States. He is also speaking out loudly about China’s encroachments into Manila’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
There is additional information available. Sources in Manila say that the Philippines has been transporting more than just food and water to the Sierra Madre during resupply runs. They say it has secretly been sending building supplies like cement and scaffolding. The goal is to fix the decaying ship.
ColPowell says it is difficult to see how they could make the ship last longer. I believe we are reaching a critical situation. The Sierra Madre is going to end soon. It could end very soon.
Maybe it is this new feeling of being in a hurry that is making both Manila and Beijing more forceful. Beijing is showing its strength again and is determined to destroy the Sierra Madre.
But if the Sierra Madre finally falls into the aquamarine waters of the South China Sea – or West Philippine Sea in Manila – what happens next.
Will Beijing come and try to take control of the reef like it has done in other parts of the South China Sea. Will Manila try to bring another ship to rest on Ayungin Shoal. And how will Washington respond.
No one knows, but that day may come sooner than expected.
China and the Philippines blamed each other for causing crashes in a disputed part of the South China Sea. This is just one of many clashes between the two countries in the area, which has made tensions in the region worse.
The Philippine government said that a ship from the Chinese Coast Guard did dangerous moves that made it crash into a Philippine boat bringing supplies to soldiers stationed in Ayungin Shoal, also known as Second Thomas Shoal, in the Spratly Islands chain.
China’s action was called “provocative, irresponsible, and illegal” and it put the crew of the Philippine boats in danger, according to the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea.
On Sunday, another incident occurred where a ship from the Chinese maritime militia collided with a ship from the Philippine coast guard. Both ships were involved in the mission to resupply the BRP Sierra Madre. In 1999, Manila intentionally put a navy ship on Second Thomas Shoal, and Filipino marines are now stationed there to protect their rights to that area.
The Chinese Coast Guard said on Sunday that the Philippines broke international sea rules and put the safety of Chinese ships in danger.
It accused the first Philippine ship of going into the waters of what it calls the Nansha islands and Renai Reef without permission. This prompted a Chinese Coast Guard ship to stop the Philippine ship, which led to a small crash.
In another incident, the Chinese Coast Guard stated that the Philippine Coast Guard boat intentionally tried to start a problem and turned around, resulting in crashing into a Chinese fishing boat.
Beijing says that it completely owns most of the South China Sea, including the islands and sandbars in it. They even claim ownership of areas that are far away from China’s main territory.
In 2016, a court in The Hague decided that the Philippines were right in a big argument about the ocean. The court said that China doesn’t have any legal reason to say that they own most of the South China Sea.
Beijing disregarded the decision.
No one was hurt in either crash on Sunday. This is the latest of many recent arguments between Beijing and Manila over the disputed waterway.
In September, the Philippine Coast Guard showed a video of a Filipino diver removing a barrier put up by the Chinese in a disputed area of the water. This barrier had stopped Filipino boats from going into the area.
It happened a few days after the Philippine Coast Guard claimed that China’s marine militia had caused extensive damage to coral around the Palawan islands, making it look white and ruined.
China’s foreign ministry said that those accusations are not true and have no basis.
A person who dresses up as Jesus and sings a rock version of The Lord’s Prayer has been arrested in the Philippines. This has caused a big argument about free speech and protecting LGBTQ people.
The Philippines is a country where many people believe in Christianity, especially the Catholic Church. This church has a strong impact on everyday life and politics.
Amadeus Fernando Pagente, who is 33 years old and performs as Pura Luka Vega in drag, was accused by Catholic church officials and others of blasphemy. This happened after videos of their performance singing the Tagalog version of the prayer called “Ama Namin” became very popular online in July.
The person was arrested by the police on Wednesday for doing something that was against the law. The law says that it is not allowed to do things that are disrespectful to any religion. The information about the arrest was shared by the person’s legal team on a website called X. The claims suggest that they broke a law about cyber crime because they shared the video online, supposedly to carry out the crime that was mentioned.
The lawyers promised to challenge the accusations against Pagente and first work on getting him released on bail.
Videos of a drag performer singing The Lord’s Prayer in Tagalog with people at a bar got a lot of negative feedback from religious groups.
The show caused a big controversy in the Philippines. Pagente was seen wearing fancy clothes that looked like what Catholic priests wear, and had a golden circle above their head. The controversy lasted for weeks and was talked about a lot in the news. More than a dozen cities, including the capital Manila where Pagente lives, declared that Pagente was no longer welcome.
Pagente was arrested because a group called Hijos Del Nazareno Central filed a complaint against him. This group represents people who are devoted to the Black Nazarene, a special sculpture of Jesus that was brought from Mexico to the Philippines in 1606. These people believe that the sculpture has magical powers.
The group famously plans a big yearly religious parade in Quezon City that attracts a large number of religious followers.
Hijos Del Nazareno Central posted on Facebook after Pagente’s arrest, saying that its followers will not tolerate any disrespect towards the name of Jesus of the Nazarene. CNN has contacted the group for more information.
Many politicians, including senators, also appeared on Philippine television shows to express their disapproval of the drag artist’s performance. They found it disrespectful,offensive, and blasphemous.
The drag artist said sorry to people who didn’t feel good about their show. But they also argued that the act was a type of art, explaining to CNN affiliate CNN Philippines in an interview that the performance portrayed the sense of being left out as a queer individual in a heavily Catholic nation.
I know that some people think my performance is disrespectful,rude, or unfortunate. But they shouldn’t tell me how to follow my religion or how to do my drag performances. The show wasn’t meant for you from the start. This is my personal experience and how I feel about not being allowed to have my rights, the performer wrote in a message on July 13 on X.
Father Jerome Secillano, who speaks for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said in an interview with CNN on Thursday that the church found the performance disrespectful because it didn’t show proper respect.
“He said that the performance made fun of our beliefs, and he believes that aspects of our beliefs should not be used for worldly purposes, particularly for amusement. “
But Secillano did not say whether the church thought that arresting Pagente was the correct action to protect the faith.
Almost 80% of people in the Philippines consider themselves to be Roman Catholic and the church is still very influential and powerful.
The Philippines is one of the few countries, alongside Vatican City, where divorce is still not permitted. Same-sex marriage and abortion are not allowed or permitted. A law that prevents discrimination and helps minorities has not been making progress in congress because of opposition from conservatives.
Carlos Conde, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that Pagente’s arrest was very upsetting and an excessive response by those who were offended.
As mall group of people who claim to be offended by Pura Luka [Vega] are the ones pushing this case, not all Filipinos. They are using existing laws to target and harm LGBT people. This was stated by Conde in an email to CNN.
Pagente was a participant on the reality competition show called”DragDen,” which started in December 2022 and is available on Amazon Prime.
The show, directed by Rod Singh, who is a transgender person from the Philippines, took place in an underground location. It showed the drag queens’ lively and bold characters while also highlighting their need to stay rebellious in a society that has traditional beliefs.
After Pagente’s arrest, Singh supported and spoke out for him, as she considers him both a friend and coworker. She stated on X that the problem at hand is no longer just about a drag performance or one’s beliefs in God or religion. Whether you like to accept it or not, your unfair judgment against our community and the rights we need is the main issue.
When you have your eyes open, you have faith and show respect to a God that you can’t see, but you ignore the important aspects of life and human rights when you close your eyes and ignore them. You learned how to pray, but you didn’t learn how to comprehend. Singh said that you shouldn’t ask for something if you can’t give it.
The Philippine fishing boat FFB Dearyn was hit around 4:20 in the morning. On Monday, near Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine coast guard said that a crew member reported this information.
Eleven crew members were able to survive the crash. They used their own boats to reach land on Tuesday morning. They brought the bodies, including the captain’s, to Pangasinan province in northern Luzon. The coast guard shared this information.
Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. , who was previously on X (formerly known as Twitter), wrote a message. The coast guard is going back and checking all the boats they were keeping an eye on in the area because they are investigating something.
Marcos promised that he and his team will do everything they can to make sure the people responsible for the maritime incident are held responsible.
He also requested that everyone not guess or speculate about what happened until the investigation is finished.
In a recent update, the coast guard mentioned that they will contact an oil tanker that belongs to the Marshall Islands, as it might have been near the location where the incident happened. They came to this conclusion after looking at data on marine traffic and hearing accounts from the survivors.
The South China Sea is a very important area for trade between different countries. It is about 1. 3 million square miles in size. Every year, a large amount of global shipping, which is worth trillions of dollars, goes through this area. This means really big ships carrying lots of stuff and ships carrying oil often go through the area.
The ocean has a lot of good places for fishing. Many people rely on these areas for their food and jobs, and they use smaller boats to fish there.
It is also a large area where there are often conflicts on the sea.
China and some Southeast Asian countries both have claims on parts of the sea. China says it owns most of it, even though this goes against a ruling from a court that involves different countries.
In the last twenty years, China has taken control of some faraway reefs and islands in the South China Sea. They have built military structures like runways and ports there.
Scarborough Shoal is a small reef and fishing area that is important for both the Philippines and China. It is located 130 miles (200 kilometers) west of Luzon and is also called Bajo de Masinloc and Huangyan Island. These different names have caused conflict and tension between Manila and Beijing.
In simple words, there have been more and more clashes between boats from the Philippines and small wooden fishing boats from China. The Chinese boats are larger and belong to the coast guard, while the Philippines believes that there are also secretive Chinese fishing boats involved.
In 2016, a very important court in The Hague decided that the Philippines won a big case about the sea. The court said that China doesn’t have the right to say they own most of the South China Sea based on history. Manila claims that Beijing has not followed the decision.
The United States military started two weeks of joint exercises with its Philippine allies and other international partners on Monday. This is happening at a time when there are growing tensions between Manila and Beijing over disagreements about land and waters in the South China Sea.
Maritime Training Activity Sama Sama 2023 is a big event where different countries like Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Malaysia are coming together with the US and the Philippines to practice and train. This is the seventh time it is happening and it will be the biggest one yet. This information comes from a press release by the US Navy.
The activities near the Philippines will involve practicing how to fight against submarines, ships, and aircrafts, both on the water and on land.
Captemphasized that the phrase “Sama Sama” in Tagalog means “together” and it perfectly represents the essence of this exercise. Sean Lewis, leader of the US Navy’s Destroyer Squadron 7, mentioned in the statement.
“He said that if we work together, we can deal with many types of security problems. By getting more countries involved, we can come up with new ideas and create a strong and unified force that keeps the region stable. ”
The situation in the region is becoming less stable because Chinese coast guard and maritime militia units are having confrontations with Philippine vessels around disputed areas in the South China Sea.
The head of the Philippine Navy, Vice Admiral, said that ‘Samasama’ helps us to confront various dangers together, including protecting our territory and fighting against crimes that occur across borders. According to the state-run Philippine News Agency (PNA), Toribio Adaci Jr. said these words during the opening ceremonies in Manila on Monday.
Last week, Gilberto Teodoro Jr. , who is the defense secretary of the Philippines, had a special interview with CNN. The writer compared Chinese actions in the area to a bully in a schoolyard.
There have been some recent events that have made people in the region worried. For example, Chinese water cannons stopped a Philippine military outpost from getting supplies. Also, a Filipino diver managed to cut through a floating Chinese barrier all by himself. Earlier this year, the coast guard of the Philippines accused a coast guard ship from China of using a powerful laser to shine into the eyes of some of its crew members, causing temporary blindness.
“This is the most obvious example of bullying I can think of,” Teodoro stated. “It’s not about taking your lunch money, but it’s about taking your lunch bag, your chair, and even kicking you out of school. ”
The Philippine president promises to protect the country’s land and says he is not seeking problems.
China’s Foreign Ministry told CNN that the ongoing conflicts at sea between China and the Philippines are mostly because the Philippines keeps causing problems and spreading incorrect information.
China says that Philippine boats are entering its territory in the Spratly Islands, even though a ruling by an international tribunal in 2016 said that Beijing’s claim is not valid.
China says that it has complete control over almost all of the South China Sea, which is a very big area, and the islands and sandbars in it. They even claim control over places that are far away from the Chinese mainland. The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, and Taiwan also have different claims.
Sama Sama has over 1,800 people from different countries participating, including people from warships in the Philippines, the US, the UK, Japan, and Canada. The exercises will happen in the Southern Luzon area of the Philippine Naval Forces. The headquarters will be on the Pacific coast of the country, which is around 300 miles southeast of Manila. It is also around 560 miles away from the Spratly Islands.
Manila says China damaged its angling rights with the 300m (1,000ft) boundary within the Scarborough Reef.
China claims more than 90% of the South China Ocean and seized the reef in 2012.
Beijing guarded the activities of its coastguard, expressing they were “fundamental measures”.
“The obstruction postured a danger to route, a clear infringement of universal law. It too ruins the conduct of angling and vocation exercises of Filipino fisherfolk,” the Philippines coast watch said in a explanation.
Commodore Jay Tarriela of the coast protect said the obstruction was found by a watch on Friday.
Three Chinese coast watch vessels and a Chinese oceanic local army benefit watercraft introduced the obstruction when the Philippine vessel arrived, he said.
The Chinese vessels issued 15 radio challenges and denounced the Philippine transport and anglers of damaging worldwide and Chinese laws, some time recently moving absent “upon figuring it out the nearness of media staff on board the [Philippine] vessel”, he said.
Japan has encouraged calm and said the South China Ocean was central to territorial solidness.
“Our nation unequivocally contradicts any conduct that increases pressure within the South China Ocean,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a customary press conference.
What is the South China Sea dispute?
The South China Sea may be a wealthy angling ground that’s accepted to hold tremendous oil and gas saves. More than half of the world’s angling vessels work in this region.
China’s claims – which incorporate sway over plots of arrive and their adjoining waters – have irritated not fair the Philippines but moreover Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
China has sponsored its broad claims with island-building and maritime watches.
The US says it does not take sides in regional debate, but has sent military ships and planes close debated islands in what it calls “flexibility of route” operations.
Beijing seized the Scarborough Shore in 2012 and constrained anglers from the Philippines to travel encourage for littler catches.
It afterward permitted the Philippines to angle adjacent when relations made strides beneath previous President Rodrigo Duterte.
Be that as it may, pressures have increased since Ferdinand Marcos Jr got to be president final year.
President Marcos Jr reestablished security ties with the US and in early 2023 allowed American troops more extensive get to to Philippine military bases.
This irritated China as a bigger US presence within the Philippines gives Washington with an circular segment of collusions extending from South Korea and Japan within the north to Australia within the south.
In a statement, a person named Jay Tarriela, who speaks for the Philippine coast guard, said that they found something called a floating barrier. This happened when the Philippine ships were doing a regular patrol on Friday. The barrier was about 300 meters long (984 feet).
The Philippine coast guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources are very mad at the China coast guard for putting up a barrier in the Southeast part of Bajo de Masinloc. This barrier stops Filipino fishing boats from going into the shoal and taking away their ability to fish and make money.
Tarriela posted pictures of a supposed floating barrier. He said that after a Philippine government ship arrived in the area, three Chinese coast guard boats and one Chinese maritime militia service boat installed the barrier.
The National Security Council of the Philippines announced on Monday that it will take necessary steps to remove barriers and ensure the safety and rights of the country’s fishermen in that specific area.
According to national security adviser Eduardo Año, the barriers being set up by China go against the Philippines’ right to fish in certain areas of the South China Sea, which was confirmed by a ruling from an international tribunal in 2016.
On Monday, Beijing explained its actions by saying that it has complete control over Huangyan Island and its surrounding waters, using the Chinese name for the disputed area. It accused the Filipino vessel of entering without permission.
“The Chinese Coast Guard followed the law and did what was needed to make the other boat go away. They showed professionalism in how they handled the situation,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin during a normal press briefing.
Filipino fishermen say that Chinese ships often put up barriers when they see many Filipino fishermen around.
Bajo de Masinloc, or Scarborough Shoal, is a small and important reef and good place for fishing. It is located 130 miles (200 kilometers) to the west of the Philippine island of Luzon.
The shoal called Huangyan Island by China is part of a group of islands and reefs in the South China Sea. There are arguments among different countries over who owns these areas.
In 2016, a court in The Hague decided that the Philippines won a major disagreement over the ocean. The decision meant that China could not legally say that they had the right to most of the South China Sea because of history.
China did not follow the decision made.
This happened a few days after the Philippine coast guard showed videos of lots of damaged and discolored coral. Because of this, officials blamed China for causing a lot of destruction in that area. China’s foreign ministry said that the allegations are not true and have no basis.
The Philippines criticized China for putting up a “floating barrier” in a disputed part of the South China Sea. They were upset because it stopped Filipino boats from going into the area to fish.
In a statement, the spokesperson for the Philippine coast guard, Jay Tarriela, said that Philippine vessels found a floating barrier while doing a regular patrol on Friday. The barrier was about 300 meters long.
The Philippine coast guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources are very upset about China’s coast guard putting up a floating barrier in the Southeast area of Bajo de Masinloc. This barrier stops Filipino fishing boats from going into the shoal and they cannot fish or make a living.
Tarriela posted pictures of a supposed barrier floating on the water and said that three boats from the Chinese coast guard and one boat from the Chinese maritime militia had put up the barrier after a Philippine government ship arrived in the area.
The Philippines coast guard recently shared a video showing large areas of damaged and pale corals. This has led officials to blame China for causing extensive harm to the environment in that region.
Tarriela stated that the ongoing extensive and harmful fishing activities by the Chinese maritime militia in Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal may have directly damaged the marine environment in the West Philippine Sea. The West Philippine Sea refers to parts of the South China Sea under Manila’s control.
Tarriela said that finding crushed corals indicates that someone may have thrown them away, possibly after cleaning them.
When asked about the damage to coral during a regular meeting, China’s foreign ministry rejected the accusations as untrue and without evidence.
“We suggest that the officials in the Philippines should not use false information to create a political act,” spokesperson Mao Ning shared with journalists.
Filipino fishermen say that Chinese ships usually put up floating barriers when they see a lot of Filipino fishermen nearby.
China has not said anything publicly yet.
CNN wants to hear what China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has to say.
Bajo de Masinloc, which is also called the Scarborough Shoal, is a small and important reef and good fishing spot located 130 miles (200 kilometers) to the west of the Philippine island of Luzon.
China and other countries argue over the ownership of the Huangyandao shoal. This is just one of many islands and reefs in the South China Sea that are in dispute.
The Philippines claims that Chinese vessels are engaging in dangerous maneuvers within a disputed region of the South China Sea.This is the most recent disagreement between the two countries in that area.
The Philippine coast guard said on Friday that while they were near Ayungin Shoal, also called Ren’ai Reef by China, doing their usual rotation and resupply work, eight Chinese boats came close to them.
It said that the Chinese boats put the safety of the Philippine crew members at risk, but it didn’t explain how. It said that the situation included four ships from the Chinese coast guard and four ships from the Chinese “maritime militia. ”
Experts who specialize in marine security in the West think that Beijing controls a large group of boats called a maritime militia. This group helps China claim territories in the South China Sea and other areas, and can be denied by the Chinese government if needed.
The Philippines says that the militia has been involved in both of the most recent events at Ayungin Shoal, which is also called Second Thomas Shoal.
China has not admitted that this militia is real.
After the latest problem, the coast guard of the Philippines contacted the coast guard of China and asked them to stop any illegal activities in the waters of the Philippines right away.
Beijing says it has complete control over almost all of the South China Sea, which is 1. 3 million square miles in size. It also says it owns most of the islands in the sea. This means that there is a group of small islands called the Spratlys. These islands are claimed by many countries including the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan.
Manila also refers to a portion of the area as the West Philippine Sea. In 1999, it purposely ran aground a navy transport ship called the BRP Sierra Madre on Second Thomas Shoal. The ship was staffed by Filipino marines, and it was done to support the country’s ownership of the area.
In reply to the recent conflict, the Chinese coast guard made a statement on Friday, blaming the Philippines for going into the area without permission.
The statement said that two ships from the Philippines, used to supply goods, and two ships from the Philippine coast guard went into the waters near Ren’ai Reef in China’s Nansha Islands without permission from the Chinese government.
China says that it definitely owns the Nansha Islands and the nearby waters. They are also against the Philippines bringing illegal materials to the warships on the beach.
Manila says it has the right to the South China Sea, and a court in the Hague agreed with them in 2016, saying China does not have a legal reason to claim most of it as their own.
Beijing didn’t listen to the decision and says that the Philippines promised to take away the vessel. The President of the Philippines is Ferdinand Marcos Jr. He said his government never made that promise.
“We are afraid of China,” says fisherman Benjo Atay while his small bamboo boat on the island of Palawan in the Philippines gets hit by strong wind and rain.
He yells instructions at his young team, most of whom are his relatives, while they pull on ropes to steer the boat away from the harbor. They are already covered in salty water and sweat – but it is not the weather that scares them.
He says that the Chinese ships go around us and follow us closely. When we are tied down or secured to something with an anchor, we cannot move freely. They would make us go away. “They want to get rid of us. ”
The Philippines and China are in a heated disagreement over who should control certain areas in the South China Sea.
China recently released a map claiming ownership of over 90% of the sea, which has led to protests from multiple countries including this one.
In the past, Manila may have quietly complained about China stopping its ships. But now, Manila has become louder and more confident in expressing its concerns, supported by help from Washington and its allies.
“We are concerned about the increasing tensions, but we are not discouraged,” said Jonathan E Malaya, who is a high-ranking official at the Philippines National Security Council.
In the past few months, the Philippines has allowed the US to use important military bases, organized the biggest ever joint military exercises with the US, and frequently criticized China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea. As Philippine and Chinese coastguards play a repetitive game on the disputed waters, Manila announced that they will teach fishermen how to defend their territory at sea.
The message is easy to understand. Jay Tarriela, a spokesperson for the coastguard in the West Philippine Sea, said that if you are Filipino, whether in the government or private sector, and no matter your political beliefs, supporting and making excuses for China’s aggressive behavior means you are not loyal to the Philippines and its people. This makes you a traitor.
China believes that it owns the entire South China Sea, including areas that other countries like the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei also claim as their own. These things aren’t new, but they are becoming louder and more risky.
The most recent episode is about the faraway Ayungin shoal. It is located more than 620 miles away from the closest part of mainland China and about 120 miles away from Palawan island.
In the past six months, Chinese ships used water cannons and lasers to keep the Philippine coastguard away from the shoal. The boats were taking important water and food to soldiers on an old warship called Sierra Madre. Manila purposely put the ship on a reef in their waters. It was a planned and deliberate action to try to stay at the shoal.
This is land that the Philippines got in 2016 from an international court. The court said that Beijing’s claim to owning most of the South China Sea was not legal.
These fishing areas are very profitable, and being able to get to the shoal also means being able to reach Reed Bank, which has a lot of oil and natural gas.
The Philippines didn’t let China’s power stop them. They made another attempt to send supplies to their soldiers on the Sierra Madre, and this time, they were able to do it.
“It’s like a small person fighting against a big person,” Mr. However, just like David, we will keep working hard and focus even more on safeguarding the resources that are crucial for the future of the Philippines.
But China’s government does not have the same perspective. It says that Sierra Madre is not respecting its authority. A statement from the Chinese coastguard said they used a water cannon on the Filipino boat in a professional and controlled manner.
Manila attempted to use a hotline it created with China to calm the situation, but nobody picked up the phone.
MrMalaya said that they want to solve the problem, but he also admitted that things are moving slowly and that everyone doesn’t agree at the moment.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos has changed his approach towards China. Unlike Rodrigo Duterte, who tried to be friendly with China, President Marcos is now getting closer to the United States.
He has also made each argument with Beijing in the South China Sea known to the public. If it is difficult for the Philippine coastguard to bring supplies to the ship stuck on Ayungin shoal, it will be shown on TV. Importantly, the United States is not very distant.
The commander of the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet recently said that China’s strong actions in the South China Sea need to be confronted and controlled.
Vice Admiral Karl Thomas promised Manila that they have support from the US despite the difficult situations they face in the region. He told Reuters news agency that his troops are here with a purpose. You need to confront and question people who operate in an unclear or uncertain area. When people are demanding more and more from you and pressuring you, you need to stand up for yourself, and keep moving forward.
Beijing said that the US was twisting the truth and causing disagreements in order to show their influence.
In the past, Washington was unsure about what Beijing was doing in the South China Sea, and some countries in that area still don’t know if they can believe or rely on its promises of help. When a new leader takes charge, they may also change their beliefs or attitudes.
However, at present, the US is proving that it will support its allies in Asia. Other countries have also been present in the South China Sea, not just the US.
Last week, the US, Japan, and Australia had a joint practice session with the Philippines. The ambassador of Japan to Manila called it a very important moment for defense. Forces from Australia and the Philippines participated in the biggest military exercises ever conducted by the two countries. These exercises involved practicing a pretend landing on a beach and carrying out air attacks near the South China Sea.
There’s nowhere else where many countries are so close to a rival power, and this makes people worried that there could be a mistake during these fights in the sea.
In simpler terms, allied help for Manila could make the dispute even worse. However, Palawan’s fishermen might not want to take that risk.
The head of the Philippine Army, Romeo Brawner, announced that they want to hire fishermen and teach them new skills for duty as reserve soldiers. Larry Hugo, the person in charge of the regional office for the Kalayaan Palawan Farmers and Fisherfolks Association, found it funny when the BBC asked him if he knew any fishermen who were willing to join a militia.
“No, we don’t want to be part of it,” he said. “It will be difficult if China discovers us. ” Fishers in this area will be singled out. The Chinese are getting more violent or forceful. “They have also grown in numbers. ”
According to Mr. Malaya from the Philippines National Security Council, the Chinese are using many fishing boats near the Ayungin shoal, which are basically like military ships.
These are tools that China uses to show its strength, and they are a part of China’s military equipment. They scare and bother our fishermen in the area,” he said.
Beijing says there is no such militia.
Benjo Atay says he is not willing to sail near those waters or engage in combat there, no matter what.
He has been fishing close to Ayungin shoal since he was 14 years old. It is called after a type of fish that is in danger of disappearing and only found in the Philippines. Many families who have little money are familiar with this fish.
Once, he and other fishermen who lived on islands near Palawan sailed near Chinese boats in the same waters for several months.
Now that Mr. Atay is in his 30s, he values the safety of the crew more than catching a large amount of fish.
I don’t believe we will return to that place. We are really afraid. They may use their water gun to spray water. Yes, we only have a boat made of wood. We are very scared to return there.
The beautiful blue-green oceans and white beaches of Palawan are perfect and tranquil. To stay alive in this place, you have to fish if you want to have food to eat.
For many years, the people on this island have made homes in rocky bays and sandy shores. These homes are small with roofs made of corrugated iron. Babies sleep in hammocks that are hung in the kitchen.
A storm has stopped most of the boats from going out, so some people are walking into the shallow water with nets and buckets to catch shellfish. Some people are using the time to fix their boats and nets.
The kids have a break from school and play basketball on a makeshift court made of overturned boats. Some people say they want to become professional basketball players, but when asked if they want to be fishermen, they enthusiastically say yes.
Mr Atay says that it is becoming more difficult every year. How can we do our job well when we’re scared. We can’t concentrate on fishing so we stay on the island where Filipinos are allowed to go.
These communities are committed to staying quiet and not getting involved in these fights over land. But what happens in the future could determine what happens to them.
That future used to rely on wind and the movement of the sea. Now, the outcome will rely on how determined world leaders are.
At least 15 people died in a fire at a house that was being used as a factory in the Metro Manila area, according to local authorities as reported by CNN Philippines.
Marcelo Ragundiaz, the head of the fire brigade in Barangay Tandang Sora district, said that a child of the homeowner, whose age was not mentioned, was one of the people who died in the fire in Quezon City. The homeowner said that at least three people, including himself, managed to get away.
Ragundiaz said that the place was being used as a place to print T-shirts. He said the fire probably began in the middle of the building, making it difficult for most people inside to get out.
CNN could not confirm the information about the incident because they couldn’t reach the Bureau of Fire Protection and the local authorities in Quezon City to get the details.
The government of Quezon City will check if a homeowner broke any rules about building and fire safety. They will also find out if the homeowner had permission to use their property for business purposes. CNN Philippines gave this information.
This happened a few days after 10 people got burns and cuts from a fire in a neighborhood in Quezon City, as reported by CNN Philippines.
The Philippines, alongside Malaysia and India, is unhappy with China‘s new national map because it seems like China is claiming their land.
China released a new version of its national map on Monday, which it has been doing since at least 2006, to fix what Beijing has previously called “problematic maps” that it believes incorrectly depict its boundaries.
The Philippines stated on Thursday that they did not accept the map because it showed a dashed line around disputed parts of the South China Sea. This line was part of a ruling by an international tribunal in 2016, which supported the Philippines’ claims.
The Philippines Foreign Affairs department said that the map is China’s recent attempt to make it seem like they have power and control over Philippine areas and waters. However, this is not supported by international law.
India was the first to express unhappiness on Tuesday by strongly objecting to China including the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and the disputed Aksai-Chin territory as part of its own territory.
India’s foreign secretary, Arindam Bagchi, said that we have expressed our strong disagreement with China through diplomatic channels about their map claiming India’s land in 2023. “We disagree with these statements since they lack any proof or foundation. ”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Malaysia disagreed with China’s claims and said that Malaysia does not accept any foreign party’s ownership or control of Malaysia’s maritime features.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin responded to the complaints during a press briefing on Wednesday. He said that the changes made were a normal practice of exercising control within the country’s laws.
“He added that he hopes everyone involved can stay fair-minded and calm, and avoid making too many assumptions about the issue. ”
Since becoming the leader in 2012, Xi Jinping has tried to make China very powerful worldwide. He has been aggressive in dealing with other countries and has made bold moves in important areas in Asia.
The argument over the map happened a few days after the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and Xi met in South Africa. During their meeting, they agreed to work harder to reduce tensions at their disputed border. This was seen as a positive step towards improving their strained relationship.
This happened after India and China talked for the 19th time to sort out their border problem. It happened before there might be a meeting between Modi and Xi at the G20 summit in New Delhi next week – if Xi goes to the summit.
Although it seems like progress is being made in their border disputes, experts say that may not always be true.
Akhil Ramesh, a senior fellow at the Pacific Forum, a foreign policy research institute in Honolulu, said that India and China try to resolve their differences, but it seems like they make little progress and often face setbacks.
In this situation, even though both sides may say they want to reduce tensions, I don’t think it will actually happen. Both countries want to become leaders in the southern part of the world, and they are both working hard to achieve this.
Borders have caused problems between New Delhi and Beijing for a long time, and conflicts in the area have led to war in the past, which China won in 1962. Over the years, a border known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has divided two very populated countries.
The two countries had more problems in 2020 after a big fight in the Galwan Valley. This place is near Aksai Chin, an area controlled by China but both countries say it belongs to them. Tensions have been building up since then and recently became more serious in December when there was a clash between soldiers from both sides in the Tawang region of Arunachal Pradesh, causing minor injuries.
While there are problems between Beijing and New Delhi, politicians from India’s main opposition party, Congress, have criticized Modi for not taking the border issue seriously.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said that China frequently changes the names and boundaries of territories that belong to other countries. The Modi government needs to make sure that the Chinese occupation of 2,000 square kilometers of Indian land along the LAC is stopped and ended.
Lawmaker Rahul Gandhi told the reporters on Wednesday that he has been saying for a long time that the prime minister was not telling the truth when he claimed that no land was lost in Ladakh.
Everyone in Ladakh knows that China has taken our land. This map problem is very important. the prime minister should talk about it,” he added.
Modi has mostly stayed away from talking about the border problem, even going on live TV and claiming that no one has entered or is entering the country.
But India has taken some actions to resist potential dangers from China. They have prohibited the use of popular Chinese apps like TikTok on social media because they believe these apps may harm their independence and unity. Additionally, they are also preventing Chinese telecom companies Huawei and ZTE from providing their 5G network.
With a growing sense of patriotism in both countries, New Delhi has become more worried about China’s increasing assertiveness. This worry has strengthened India’s relationship with the United States, particularly through the Quad – a group consisting of Japan, the US, India, and Australia, which is seen as a way to balance China’s power.
China refused to attend a G20 tourism meeting organized by India in the Himalayan territory of Jammu and Kashmir. They did this because they disagree with having any G20 meetings in disputed areas. Both India and Pakistan say that they own the disputed region of Kashmir completely.
The Philippines say they have sent new supplies to a faraway location they believe belongs to them in the South China Sea.
Manila says that Beijing tried to stop and disturb the supply mission, but they were not successful.
Chinese ships used water cannons to stop a Philippine supply mission from reaching Filipino troops at the Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed Spratly Islands.
Manila is using an old navy ship with a small number of soldiers to support its claim.
The embassy of China in Manila didn’t respond right away to a request for comment.
Beijing says that they own almost the whole South China Sea, including the Spratlys, but the Philippines also says that they own part of it too.
The ocean is a place where there are lots of fish and people think there might be a lot of oil and gas.
Supply missions to the shoal have caused a lot of problems between the two people arguing over it.
Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan also say that some parts of the sea belong to them. This sea is a very important route for trade, where around $3. 37tn or 21% of all global trade goes through each year.
On August 22, two ships brought new supplies to Second Thomas Shoal. They were protected by two coast guard ships. This was announced by the Philippines’ National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea.
Manila uses the name West Philippine Sea to talk about the part of the South China Sea that is under its control.
The task force said that they will continue to send supplies to the shoal regularly.
The United States, which is a country that has a treaty with the Philippines, is worried about the actions that China is taking in the South China Sea. The Philippines has described these actions as dangerous.
In addition to using water cannons, Chinese ships are said to have used strong lasers to temporarily blind the crews of Philippine vessels.
China tried many times to stop supply missions to Second Thomas Shoal. This was an important part of the Philippines’ winning case at the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague in 2014.
The court decided that China’s argument using old maps is not supported by evidence. But Beijing has not accepted the ruling and instead made fake islands on reefs that are being argued over.
China’s foreign ministry asked the Philippines to take away the ship on Second Thomas Shoal because they said Manila had promised multiple times to move the warship that is illegally stuck on the reef. It didn’t say who kept the promise.
The previous leader, Rodrigo Duterte, was the president for six years until mid 2022. He changed Manila’s partnerships to focus on China and Russia, which caused problems with their long-standing friend, the United States.
But the next leader, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, made the relationship with the US strong again and gave American soldiers more permission to use Philippine military bases in early 2023.
This made China upset because having more US military in the Philippines completes the chain of alliances in the region from South Korea and Japan to Australia.
In the South China Sea, the Philippines has accused Chinese Coast Guard vessels of firing water cannons and engaging in “dangerous manoeuvres” against its ships.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) issued a statement Saturday that was posted on its official Facebook account. “The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) strongly condemns the China Coast Guard’s (CCG) dangerous manoeuvres and illegal use of water cannons against PCG vessels,” the statement read.
Ships bringing supplies to military personnel stationed on Ayungin Shoal, also known as Second Thomas Shoal, in the Spratly Islands chain, also called in China as the Nansha Islands, were being escorted by PCG vessels.
China accused the Philippines Coast Guard (PCG) of trespassing in its seas in a response released on Sunday.
According to a statement on the China Coast Guard’s website, “Two Filipino supply vessels and two coast guard vessels illegally intruded into the waters adjacent to Renai Reef in China’s Nansha Islands.”
The Chinese coast Guard carried out the required checks in accordance with the law and stopped the Philippine vessels from transporting illicit building materials. According to the statement, Gan Yu urged the Philippine side to immediately stop its infringement operations in that maritime area.
Chinese territorial claims to the islands and the South China Sea were reaffirmed by Gan Yu, who also vowed that the country will continue to enforce the law there.
While this was going on, the US State Department declared its support for the Philippines and urged China to respect freedom of navigation. In a statement released on Saturday, it said that “(China) has no legitimate claim to the maritime area surrounding Second Thomas Shoal.”
Tension between Manila and Beijing has always been centred on the South China Sea.
Beijing asserts “indisputable sovereignty” over the majority of the islands and nearly the whole 1.3 million square mile South China Sea. Included in this are the Spratlys, an archipelago of 100 tiny islands and reefs that are also fully or partially claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan.
However, Manila refers to the region as the West Philippine Sea. It purposefully grounded the BRP Sierra Madre, a navy transport ship manned by Filipino troops, on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to bolster its territorial claims.
Filipino fishermen nearby have allegedly been harassed by Chinese warships, according to Philippine maritime authorities.
When Manila expressed “great concern” about the presence of Chinese vessels in the disputed waterway in December, relations became tense.
After meeting a month later, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. decided to boost their bilateral economic relations and pick up their oil exploration negotiations despite tensions over disputed waterways.
Early on Wednesday, a strong typhoon hit the northern Philippines, posing the risk of tidal surges, flash floods, and landslides that could be fatal in some areas of the main island.
According to Pagasa, the Philippine weather service, typhoon Doksuri, also known as Egay, hit land around 3:10 a.m. local time (3:10 p.m. ET) close to the remote Fuga Island.
Despite having lost some of its super typhoon intensity, Doksuri still had winds of roughly 220 kilometres per hour (140 mph), which is the same as an Atlantic hurricane of category 4.
As torrential rains blanketed the nation, Pagasa warned that violent and life-threatening circumstances might be expected in some sections of Luzon, the largest and most populous island in the Philippines.
The typhoon has already dropped up to 16 inches (0.4 metres) of rain, and its 680-kilometer (420-mile) rainband might drop up to 20 inches (0.5 metres), raising the possibility of flash floods and landslides in the hilly northern regions, according to Pasgasa.
Additionally, authorities issued a 3 metre (almost 10 foot) tide surge warning.
The typhoon’s anticipated winds of up to 200 kph (124 mph) are expected to have a significant impact on the communities in its path. Local governments started evacuating some residents who were in the storm’s path on Tuesday.
More than 12,000 people had been evacuated by Tuesday evening from at least a dozen coastal and mountain villages, according to the governor of Cagayan province, which has closed its offices and cancelled classes.
“It’s a powerful typhoon, and we want to take as many preventive measures as we can,” said Governor Cagayan Manuel Mamba.
Authorities also cancelled at least 12 domestic flights from Wednesday to Friday.
Taiwan and China are on high alert due to the potential for heavy rain and strong gusts.
On Tuesday, Taiwan postponed a number of its yearly military drills as it got ready for what may be the strongest typhoon to hit the autonomous island in four years.
Eastern Taiwan is currently being impacted by the typhoon’s outer bands, according to the Central Weather Bureau of the island. As it moves northwest, it is anticipated to continue to weaken until it is only a category 1 hurricane, with the possibility of making a second landfall in the next two days on China’s southern coastline.
As Doksuri is expected to make landfall by Friday around the southeast coast where the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong meet, China’s National Meteorological Centre on Wednesday upgraded its typhoon emergency warning to the highest level.
Fishing boats have been ordered by Chinese authorities to return to port immediately, while farmers have been admonished to take precautions to prevent crop flooding.
Forecasters have issued a super typhoon warning for a major storm that is moving across the Pacific Ocean in the direction of the Philippines and might hit the country’s northern region before making landfall on mainland China later this week.
Doksuri, a super typhoon with gusts of about 150 mph (240 kph), is comparable to an Atlantic hurricane of category 4.
Within the next 24 hours, the storm is predicted to pass over or come within striking distance of the Babuyan Islands in the Philippines, where it is now travelling north-northwest at a speed of 9 mph (15 kph).
Along with the heavy winds, significant rainfall is also expected, especially across the Babuyan Islands and northern Luzon, the Philippines’ largest and most populous island. “Under these conditions, flooding and rain-induced landslides are highly likely,” the bureau warned.
The threat for high storm surge is also expected, with maximum surge heights potentially exceeding 10 foot, the bureau added.
Doksuri, also known as Egay in the Philippines, is projected to continue northwest, passing close to the eastern side of Taiwan, where heavy rainfall is expected, and Hong Kong, before making landfall in southern China later this week.
China’s National Meteorological Center projects Doksuri will hit coastal regions in the eastern provinces of Fujian and Guangdong on Friday morning. Fujian province has upgraded its typhoon emergency warning to the third-highest level on Tuesday, and has asked fishing boats to return to port as soon as possible.
But the typhoon’s exact path is still uncertain, with the Hong Kong Observatory saying over the weekend there were several possible routes it could go.
The observatory said the typhoon’s final trajectory will be guided by a variety of factors, such as subtropical ridges that bring high atmospheric pressure, or monsoon troughs that bring low pressure.
Communities in the typhoon’s path are now bracing for impact, with Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. suspending all public school classes and closing government offices in the capital region on Monday, except for those performing critical services. The suspension was also in part due to a 3-day strike by transport workers.
The Philippine also urged people living in “highly susceptible” areas to follow evacuation orders and other instructions from local officials.
The Hong Kong Observatory has asked the public to monitor weather announcements, warning the typhoon will bring high heat and thunderstorms ahead of its arrival. The city has just experienced another storm, Typhoon Talim, a week ago, which prompted authorities to close schools and the stock market.
Strong wind advisories have been issued for the southern portion of Taiwan, specifically the coastlines of Taitung and Pingtung counties. These will be strengthened as Doksuri continues to approach the island, with the main threats being heavy rainfall, landslides, high winds and storm surge.
Switzerland got off to a strong start in Group A with a 2-0 victory overWorld Cup newcomers, the Philippines, in Dunedin.
Ramona Bachmann and Seraina Piubel scored on either side of the halftime break to secure the win for Inka Grings’ team.
The Swiss team made a triumphant return to the World Cup finals after missing the 2019 tournament, last participating in 2015.
With three points, they now share the top position in Group A with New Zealand, who defeated Norway 1-0. Switzerland’s next match in the group will be against Norway on Tuesday.
It’s worth noting that Alen Stajcic’s Philippines team has made history by becoming the country’s first team to qualify for a men’s or women’s World Cup finals.
And in the 16th minute, Guillou thought she had scored an historic goal when she latched on to a long ball, took it beyond goalkeeper Gaelle Thalmann and fired in – but the strike was disallowed by the VAR.
Having survived that scare,Switzerland – ranked 26 places higher than their opponents at 20th in the world – registered a number of attempts on goal, with the best opportunity seeing Ana Maria Crnogorcevic shoot over from close range in the 37th minute.
Soon after, Coumba Sow went down in the Philippines box under a challenge from Jessika Cowart.
Following another VAR intervention, with referee Vincentia Amedome watching the incident back on the pitchside monitor, a penalty was awarded and Bachmann dispatched it in composed fashion past Olivia McDaniel.
The advantage was then doubled 19 minutes into the second half when McDaniel parried a Crnogorcevic shot and Sow follow-up but could not prevent Piubel firing in the loose ball.
Following the discovery of sexually graphic content on the phone of a guy detained in Sydney by Australian authorities, sixteen reportedly mistreated children in the Philippines have been rescued.
According to a joint statement issued Wednesday by the Australian Federal Police and the Philippine National Police (PNP), the youngsters were discovered last month when the PNP carried out several warrants at four sites in the Metro Manila area and one province in the Northern Philippines.
The Australian Border Force detained a Queensland man, 56, who was travelling back to Sydney from the Philippines in January, starting the inquiry, according to the statement.
After searching his phone, the ABF found child abuse material and messages detailing his intent to pay a facilitator who would enable him to sexually abuse children in the Philippines.
The man was charged with three offenses including grooming and possession of child abuse material, which carry a potential maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
However, the suspect failed to attend a scheduled court appearance on May 30 and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
“This case highlights how vital it is for law enforcement agencies to share intelligence and resources globally, because predators are not confined by borders,” said the AFP’s senior officer in Manila, Detective Superintendent Andrew Perkins.
“However, these children’s lives have been irrecoverably damaged and we know there are too many other children still at risk,” he added.
The children have been placed into the care of the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development and investigators are still trying to find other suspected victims.
Police Colonel Portia Manalad, chief of the Philippine National Police Women and Children Protection Center, said the PNP could not tackle this crime alone.
“We must collaborate with our international partners, such as the AFP, to arrest offenders and rescue child victims,” she said.
As of June 29, 611 victims have been rescued from child abuse and 127 facilitators arrested since the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Center (PICACC), a joint effort between the Philippines, Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, was established in 2019.
The country’s coast guard said on Sunday that a ship carrying 120 people caught fire off the island of Bohol in the Philippines.
Videos released by the Philippine Coast Guard showed billows of black smoke and flames erupting from the back of the MV Esperanza Star.
All 120 passengers and staff members were safely taken from the ship, the coast guard informed CNN. It claimed that no injuries had been sustained and that the fire had been put out.
When the fire started, the ship was sailing between the Philippine islands of Siquijor and Bohol, according to the coast guard.
In a statement on Facebook, the coast guard said its rescue ships would remain in the waters of Panglao, Bohol, to monitor the situation.
Authorities said that about 13,000 people were evacuated from the southeast of the main island of the Philippines after the country’s most active volcano started spewing lava and sulfuric gas on Sunday.
Due to the risk of rockfalls, landslides, and ballistic debris, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) advised everyone within a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius or “danger zone” of the Mount Mayon volcano to evacuate.
88% of the people residing in the danger zone have been evacuated since the volcano’s alert level was increased to 3 out of 5 on Thursday, and efforts to transfer the remaining people are still ongoing, according to the Philippine Provincial Information Office.
Situated on Luzon island about 330 kilometers (205 miles) southeast of Manila, Mayon is one of the world’s most active volcanoes.
Images showed families in Albay province carrying children and their belongings, boarding trucks and military vehicles and taking shelter at evacuation centers in local schools.
Phivolcs warned that a “hazardous eruption is possible within weeks or even days” after detecting a “relatively high level of unrest” at the volcano.
Within the past 24 hours, the Mayon Volcano Network recorded 21 weak volcanic earthquakes, and 260 rockfalls, as well as lava flow activity from the crater, according to Phivolcs.
The agency also detected three pyroclastic density currents – hot, fast-moving flows of ash, hot gases and debris that rush down volcanic slopes – and warned of possible ashfall on the south side of the volcano.
Albay province was placed under a state of calamity on Friday allowing the government to release response funds to support affected residents, CNN affiliate CNN Philippines reported.
Speaking to CNN Philippines, Phivolcs director Teresito Bacolcol said they were closely monitoring the situation at the volcano and could raise the alert level to 4 if there is an increase in volcanic earthquakes and inflation of the volcano’s edifice.
Bacolcol said there was an effusive eruption Sunday night with lava flows observed to reach 500 meters (1,640 feet) from the volcano’s summit.
“Lava flows are slow moving and effusive eruptions are generally less violent and produce less ash and volcanic gases than explosive eruptions,” he told CNN Philippines.
Dramatic photos taken at night showed glowing rivers of molten lava spewing from the top of the volcano and scattering down its sides.
Philippine authorities also evacuated 10,000 farm animals, including cows, goats and pigs threatened by the volcanic eruption, to feeding camps and shelters outside the danger zone.
Mount Mayon last violently erupted in 2018, displacing thousands of villagers and coating nearby towns in thick layers of ash.
In the Philippines, a tourist ferry caught fire, killing dozens of passengers—including a six-month-old child.
The fire on the MV Lady Mary Joy 3 off the southern province of Basilan on Wednesday night resulted in at least 23 injuries, and several of them were taken to hospitals.
Rescuers are still looking for at least seven people who have gone missing, and they are concerned that there may be more passengers on board than are stated in the manifest.
The ship is entirely enveloped in flames in shocking video footage.
In the Philippines, a tourist ferry caught fire, killing dozens of passengers—including a six-month-old child.
The fire on the MV Lady Mary Joy 3 off the southern province of Basilan on Wednesday night resulted in at least 23 injuries, and several of them were taken to hospitals.
Rescuers are still looking for at least seven people who have gone missing, and they are concerned that there may be more passengers on board than are stated in the manifest.
The ship is entirely enveloped in flames in shocking video footage.
Regional governor Jim Hataman described survivors leaping into the sea where they were rescued by the coast guard, another passing vessel and local fishermen.
He said: ‘Some of the passengers were roused from sleep due to the commotion caused by the fire. Some jumped off the ship.’
Several victims drowned and were recovered at sea, while 18 were discovered in a budget section of the passenger cabin, he added.
Survivors rest after being rescued from the still burning MV Lady Mary Joy at Basilan, southern Philippines (Picture: Philippine Coast Guard via AP)Coast guard personnel pull a survivor from the water (Picture: EPA)The search for survivors is ongoing (Picture: EPA)
The ferry, which was enroute to Jolo town in Sulu province from the southern port city of Zamboanga when it caught fire, was towed to Basilan’s shoreline and an investigation is underway.
The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, has a poor record for maritime safety.
Sea accidents are common due to frequent storms, badly maintained boats, overcrowding and spotty enforcement of safety regulations, especially in remote provinces.
In December 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker, killing more than 4,300 people in the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster.
A passenger ferry caught fire in the Philippines, killing at least 28 people.
About 230 people were saved. Officials claimed that it is unknown how the fire started on Wednesday night in the ship’s air-conditioned staterooms.
At least three children, including a baby who was six months old, were among the fatalities.
A precise passenger count wasn’t available, officials earlier stated, thus it was unclear how many individuals were missing. On a manifest, just 205 were mentioned.
According to the Philippine Coast Guard, search and rescue efforts are still ongoing and the ship does not appear to be overloaded.
The initial death toll amounted to less than a dozen people – these were thought to have drowned as they jumped into the water without life jackets.
However authorities then discovered another 18 bodies on the vessel that were “totally burnt”, said Commodore Rejard Marfe of the Coast Guard.
He added that “chaos” resulted when the fire broke out, as most of the passengers were sleeping at the time.
The captain eventually ran the vessel aground so that it would be easier for those onboard to swim to shore.
Authorities said earlier that 14 people were injured and another seven missing.
The MV Lady Mary Joy 3 caught fire around 22:40 local time (14:40 GMT) off Baluk-baluk island in Basilan province. It had been travelling to another island.
Mayor Arsina Kahing-Nanoh told CNN Philippines that one of the rescued passengers said an explosion could be heard before the blaze broke out.
She added that more explosions were heard as the ship ran aground.
The coast guard said it would assist with an investigation and safety assessment, and check for oil spills.
The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, has a poor maritime safety record.
Vessels are often overcrowded, with many ageing ships still in use.
Last May, at least seven people died after a fire in a high-speed ferry carrying 134 people.
In 1987, around 5,000 people perished in the world’s worst peacetime shipping disaster, when an overloaded passenger ferry collided with an oil tanker off Mindoro island.
The Aeta, Agta, or Ayta people are what’s known to be the original Black race who inhabited the remote and mountainous regions of Luzon, the Philippines before the Austronesian migrations of the Malays and Asian group.
While history buffs debate on their timeline on when and how they migrated there, anthropologists and historians estimate that they crossed from the island of Borneo between 20,000 and 30,000 years ago.
The Aeta were called Negritos during Spanish colonial rule. They are comprised of approximately 25 different ethnolinguistic groups, widely scattered throughout the archipelago, totaling an estimated 15,000 people. Negritos are described as people who are dark to very dark brown-skinned with curly to kinky afro-textured hair. Some Aetas reportedly had lighter hair color what we would consider in modern-day as a blonde. Another key feature, according to historians, is their small statures and small frames.
Aeta groups living in northern Luzon were reportedly considered “Pugut” or “Pugot.” The name was given by a llocano-speaker in the region when talking about people with darker complexions. In Ilocano, the word also means “goblin” or “forest spirit.” The Aeta people survived as forest dwellers, hunters, and gatherers for thousands of years.
The Aeta speak Mag-indi, Mag-antsi, Abellen, Ambala, and Mariveleño. They are also known to adopt the language of their neighbors.
Where are the Aeta today?
Over the last few decades, the Aetas have been declining in numbers as their existence has been threatened by outsiders and nature. The Aetas were pushed from the lowlands and are now occupying the “western foothills of Mt. Pinatubo”
The Aeta have suffered racial discrimination and receive little-to-no recognition and support from the government. They have lost much of their ancestral domain to land grabbers, loggers, and mining operations backed by corrupt politicians and officials.
Activists worry that the future is bleak for The Aeta and could be on the verge of disappearing.
Last week, the incident took place close to the Spratly Islands. It is the most recent escalation in the conflict in the South China Sea betweenChina and the Philippines.
In the disputed South China Sea, the Philippine Coast Guard claimed on Monday that the Chinese coast guard had fired a “military-grade laser light” at one of its ships.
The incident, according to Manila, temporarily rendered some of the ship’s crew members blind.
Officials reported that the incident happened on February 6 in the Spratly Islands, about 12 miles (20 kilometres) from Second Thomas Shoal.
Philippine troops are stationed on Second Thomas Shoal inside the BRP Sierra Madre, a derelict navy ship that has been grounded into the reef to assert Manila’s territorial claims.
“The deliberate blocking of Philippine government ships to deliver food and supplies to our military personnel on board the BRP Sierra Madre is a blatant disregard for, and a clear violation of, Philippine sovereign rights in this part of the West Philippine Sea,” said the Philippine Coast Guard, using the country’s official terminology for the stretch of waters close to its western coast.
What happened?
The Philippine Coast Guard said its patrol boat was supporting a “rotation and resupply mission” when a Chinese coast guard vessel shone a green laser at the bridge of the Philippine ship.
“The Philippine coast guard will continue to exercise due diligence in protecting the country’s territorial integrity against foreign aggression,” Philippines Admiral Artemio Abu said.
China has not yet commented on the claims.
It is not clear if the resupply mission was completed.
In order to give Japanese troops more access to Philippine territory, the leaders of Japan and the Philippines have agreed to strengthen their defence ties.
The defence agreement was signed on Thursday by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It will enable Japanese troops to participate in training exercises to address natural disasters and humanitarian needs in the Philippines.
The agreement could lead to similar agreements between Japan and other countries in Southeast Asia, where competition for geopolitical influence has increased amid a more assertive Chinese presence in the region. It is seen as a step towards greater military cooperation between Tokyo and Manila.
Kishida said the countries will continue talks to further strengthen and streamline their militaries’ joint exercises and other operations, while seeking also to expand the transfer of Japanese defence equipment and technology to the Philippines as well as strengthening cooperation trilaterally with the United States.
“After our meeting, I can confidently say that our strategic partnership is stronger than ever as we navigate together the rough waters buffeting our region,” Marcos said at a joint news conference with Kishida.
Taiwan, which lies between Japan and the Philippines, has become a focal point of intensifying Chinese military activity that Tokyo and Washington worry could escalate into war as Beijing has promised to take back Taiwan, which it views merely as a rogue province and not a sovereign state.
Marcos’s visit to Japan come shortly after he and US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin reached an agreement on allowing the US more access to Philippine military bases to keep China’s territorial ambitions in check.
The Philippine and Japanese leaders “resolved” to increase the defence capabilities of their own countries and strengthen overall security cooperation with reciprocal port calls and aircraft visits and the transfer of more defence equipment and technology, according to a joint statement released late on Thursday.
It said Japan will transfer air surveillance radar systems to the Philippines and provide related personnel training.
The leaders “expressed serious concerns about the situation in the East and China Seas and strongly opposed the actions including force or coercion that may increase tensions,” the statement said.
Kishida and Marcos also agreed to strengthen economic and cybersecurity, and confirmed Japan’s continuing assistance to the Philippine coastguard in reinforcing its capabilities, including the improvement of port facilities at Subic Bay, a former US naval base.
“President Marcos’s visit here gives us impetus for Japan and the Philippines to further elevate our cooperation in recent years to even higher levels as we contribute to the peace and stability of the region and the international community,” Kishida said at the news conference.
The countries also agreed on loan arrangements and extensions for Philippine infrastructure projects, including $3bn to finance major commuter rail projects.
The agreement with Manila comes after Kishida’s government in December adopted key security and defence upgrades, including a counterstrike capability that breaks from Japan’s post-World War II principle of self-defence only, while also doubling defence spending within five years.
Japan is the Philippines’ biggest source of bilateral development assistance, according to Manila, and its second-largest trading partner. Japan is also the only country to have a bilateral free trade agreement with the Philippines.
Marcos met with Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako ahead of his talks with Kishida on Thursday and invited the imperial couple to visit the Philippines. He also plans to join talks with trade and business officials before returning to the Philippines on Sunday.
According to a joint statement from the defence departments of the two nations, the Philippines and the United States have agreed to broaden their defence agreement, giving US troops access to four more military bases in the Southeast Asian country.
The deal was announced by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin while he was in Manila for talks with newly elected Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“The Philippines and the United States are proud to announce their plans to accelerate the full implementation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the agreement to designate four new Agreed Locations in strategic areas of the country and the substantial completion of the projects in the existing five Agreed Locations,” the joint statement said. It was published on the websites of the US Department of Defense and on the Philippines’ Department of National Defense.
EDCA forms part of a decades-long security alliance between the US and the Philippines, and allows US troops to rotate through five Philippine bases, including those near disputed waters.
It also allows for the US military to store defence equipment and supplies on those bases.
The statement said the expansion would make the two countries’ alliance “stronger and more resilient” and “accelerate modernization of our combined military capabilities”.
The statement did not elaborate on the new locations, but said they would “allow more rapid support for humanitarian and climate-related disasters in the Philippines”. The US had allocated more than $82 million towards infrastructure investments at EDCA’s existing five sites, it added.
Ties between the Philippines and the United States have warmed since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took office last year [Jam Sta Rosa/Pool via Reuters]
The expansion comes as China becomes increasingly assertive in pressing its claim to the self-ruled island of Taiwan, as well as in the South China Sea where it claims almost the entire waterway under its controversial nine-dash line. The Philippines, other Southeast Asian nations and Taiwan also have overlapping claims to the sea, which is a major global trade route.
The relationship between the Philippines and the US – longtime allies – was strained under Marcos Jr’s predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, who favoured China and threatened to sever ties with Washington and expel US troops.
But ties have warmed under the new administration, with US Vice President Kamala Harris visiting last November.
“This is really the dawn of a new era after a rocky few years,” said Al Jazeera correspondent Barnaby Lo, who is in Manila.
Tension in disputed seas
While most of the new bases are expected to be in Luzon, the western island of Palawan, facing the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, is expected to get an additional base as well.
A senior US defence official told reporters on Wednesday that the Philippines was under “day-to-day pressure from (China) in ways that contravene international law”.
The US aims to ensure “they have the capability to defend their own sovereignty”, the official said.
The Philippines has often found itself on the front line of Beijing’s aggressive tactics in the South China Sea, where China’s maritime militia has established an almost constant presence in Manila’s exclusive economic zone.
In 2012, China took control of Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines after a months-long standoff that began when Manila discovered Chinese fishing boats around the rocky outcrops.
Tensions rose again in 2021 when the Philippines protested against China’s “continuing illegal presence and activities” near its islands in the South China Sea.
Beijing has ignored a 2016 international court ruling – in a case brought by the Philippines – that its claim to the South China Sea was without merit.
China also claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve its objective. Last year, after then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island, Beijing conducted major war games around and across the island.
Seven-year-old Eric giggles, showing off a broad toothless grin, as he talks about space travelin the shade of a garden, surrounded by lush, thick forest, a few hours north of the Philippines’ capital Manila.
Eric dreams of flying a rainbow-coloured rocket to Saturn. He has just lost his baby teeth but he is small for his age. His white, checked shirt hangs off his tiny shoulders.
“What do you cry about during therapy?” his social worker asks him. “I cry about my parents,” he says, looking at the ground.
Fedalyn Marie Baldo has spent months with Eric, his 10-year-old sister Maria and two older brothers to help them understand that theirs is not a normal childhood.
For years, when their neighbourhood was asleep and much of the Western world was awake, all four children were forced to perform live sex shows for paedophiles around the world.
They were raped and repeatedly sexually abused on camera by their mother. Their father, aunt and uncle also took part.
It was the children’s father who eventually reported his wife and her family to the police, allegedly after a dispute. Investigators traced payments to the family from accounts in the UK and Switzerland.
Months later, Eric, his brothers and sister ended up at a home run by the charity Preda, which focuses on helping sexually abused children.
That has also been Ms Baldo’s job for 17 years. In that time, images and videos of child sexual abuse have ballooned into a billion-dollar industry in the Philippines, now the world’s largest-known source of such exploitation.
Grinding poverty, high-speed internet access and an ability to accept instructions in English have all kept it going.
Then came the pandemic. More than two years of lockdowns and some of the world’s longest school closures left vulnerable children stuck at home with cash-strapped parents desperate to make money.
A recent study by Unicef and Save the Children estimates that around one in five Filipino children are now at risk of sexual exploitation, putting the grim figure close to two million.
Ms Baldo fears that the abuse is becoming “normalised” in the Philippines and may become endemic in some of the country’s poorest neighbourhoods.
President Bongbong Marcos has declared an “all-out war” on child sexual abuse and the industry it has spurred. But so far, it’s a war the Philippines is not winning.
A global war
In Manila, as the clock ticks towards dawn, a team from the National Bureau of Investigation has gathered near a graveyard.
Flashlights are kept low, guns are loaded, cameras are ready to film evidence as the team leader gives a final briefing. They are under pressure to get results.
Amid the tombstones in this densely populated city, a family live among the dead. A 36-year-old mother is on her smartphone in a small wooden hut built against some of the largest monuments in the cemetery.
She thinks she is messaging a paying customer in Australia who is requesting a live sex show involving her three children. In truth, her texts are going to an undercover police officer.
As she switches on the camera, around a dozen officers rush through narrow paths to her door. The only warning is when the stray dogs start to bark.
She offers no resistance as a female officer takes the children to safety and others start to bag evidence: sex toys, smartphones, receipts detailing overseas payments.
As with many of these arrests, this one too is the result of a tip-off from abroad.
The Australian Federal Police told the BBC they caught a man at an airport with a storage device full of explicit child abuse videos. His phone allegedly contained messages between him and a woman in the Philippines requesting money in exchange for the videos.
The operation then took dozens of officers weeks to plan and led to two arrests. One in Manila and the other in Sydney.
Australian officials said they had recorded an increase of around 66% in reports of child exploitation in the last year.
They are working alongside teams from the International Justice Mission, the UK National Crime Agency and the National Police of the Netherlands, and officers in the Philippines, to try to find child sex offenders. Once they’ve identified them, they try to track down the source of the material.
But often, the only way the abuse is reported is when the child comes forward. And even then it’s a long road ahead.
Several social workers say they have to spend days, even weeks, pushing local police to rescue the children and file charges against the parents.
“Sometimes we get the co-operation of law enforcement authorities, other times the actions of people who are supposed to really protect children are delayed. But we have to work around it,” says Emmanuel Drewery from Preda.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, One in five Filipino children are at risk from sexual exploitation
The organisation first set up a children’s home for girls back in the 1970s near the port city of Olongapo, once home to a large American naval base.
It had become a hub for sex tourism – illegal prostitution between foreign men and Filipina girls often still in their teens and trafficked into the industry, or young women pushed into the sex trade by family pressure and economic desperation.
Years on, social workers fear much of the sexual abuse here is generational, that many of the children’s mothers were also raped or sexually assaulted. They believe their view is: “It happened to me, I did this to survive and so must you.”
Father Shay Cullen, president of Preda, has been fighting for the rights of abused children in the Philippines since 1974. He wants a global solution to this new and growing problem.
“There has to be [an] international law. This is the only way. All national governments need to really put restrictions on the internet corporations. They must co-operate to restrict the passage of child abuse material and the online streaming of the sexual abuse of children.”
Things are changing, he agrees – but slowly.
But that’s only one part of the war. For organisations like Preda, the bigger battle lies in rehabilitating the children.
‘Why did you do this to me?’
Some of the toughest healing at Preda happens inside a dark room with soft music playing in the background.
There are large pads on the walls and floors – the kind gymnasts would use for a soft landing. The only light comes from the open door.
About five children are kneeling, each in their own space. Most of them are facing the wall.
The overwhelming sound is the erratic thud of their fists and feet as they pummel the pads.
Image caption, Eric says he enjoys power dance and therapy at the centre
The first raw, anguished cries make your heart stop. And then it starts again, but it’s difficult to keep listening, even from a distance, even for a few minutes.
The questions hurled at the cushioned walls – “Why did you do this to me? Why me? What did I do?” – are heart-breaking.
A therapist kneels quietly inside, ready to help.
“It all begins in the room,” says Francisco Bermido Jr, president of Preda.
“If they are able to confront the abusers in the ‘primal’ room, they can move on forward and confront these abusers in the court-room. These are emotions like hate towards their abusers, but also hate towards those they told, but who did not believe them.”
Preda has used this form of emotional release therapy – called primal – for decades to help children cope with the emotional impact of physical and sexual abuse.
But they are struggling for resources. Their centre near Manila can only afford to take around 100 children a year. But so many more need help.
Once a police report is filed, children can be sent to a number of homes or orphanages, but many don’t have the training or experience to care for children who have suffered abuse.
Eric’s older brother was first placed into a nearby orphanage without his siblings before he was moved to the Preda centre.
Social workers at the centre say that around 40% of abused children who’ve been in their care go on to live a life safe from harm. And every success keeps them going.
Routine helps. The centre offers a daily schedule of schoolwork, sports like karate and volleyball, storytelling sessions and, of course, therapy.
“I love karate, power dance and primal,” Eric shouts as he punches happily in the air.
He also enjoys singing – and he joins his friends in the playroom. When it’s his turn for a solo, he sings softly at first, then his confidence grows and his voice soars around the room.
Image caption, Social workers say routine – and sports like karate – help the children heal
One of his older brothers is still too traumatised to talk. Their sister Maria, Ms Baldo warns, also speaks little.
But on that day, a beaming Maria, clinging to either her prized pencil case or a soft toy, was surprisingly curious and full of questions. She really wanted to know what a snowflake felt like.
“When they arrived, they were very meek and docile and untrusting of the world and of others,” Mr Bermido Jr says.
But months later, they are able to tell their story – every horrifying detail – to the social workers. All four children have also testified against their family, a requirement by Philippines’ courts.
“That’s actually very important because that’s where their quest for justice begins,” he adds.
Both Eric and Maria attend the group storytelling session. He sits next to her and absently curls his fingers around his sister’s ponytail.
Ms Baldo asks Maria about Cinderella, and she replies: “Cinderella did not give up even during hard times, even in the toughest situation, she still had hope,” she says, hugging her soft toy tighter.
“Just like us – even though our parents abused us, we should be like Cinderella.”
Netizenshave hailed some neighbours in a Philippine village for putting a smile on an old man’s face by relocating him closer to his children. Footage shared on Instagram by @worthfeed showed the neighbours numbering about 20 heaving the 7ft-high structure on a dirt road in Zamboanga del Norte in the Philippines.
According to @worthfeed, the men stopped every ten minutes to take rests as the house is quite heavy. Why the elderly man had to be relocated YEN.com.gh gathered that the elderly man lost his wife and consequently had no one to care for him as his children lived far away.
His children wanted him to live nearby, and the house was too heavy for only his relatives to carry, hence the help from neighbours. “The grandfather didn’t have anyone to take care of him because his wife was already dead so his children wanted him to live nearby. However, his house was too heavy for his relatives so some of our neighbours volunteered to help,” a local named Rhezelle Araniuez explained.
Vice President Kamala Harris has reiterated the United States’ “unwavering” commitment to the Philippines during a visit aimed at rebuilding ties tested during the Duterte years, and countering China’s growing influence in the region.
Harris is the highest-ranking US official to visit Manila since President Ferdinand Marcos took power in June. She arrived in Manila as the Philippine military revealed a Chinese coastguard ship had on Sunday “forcefully retrieved” a floating object that was being towed by a Philippine vessel in the South China Sea, by cutting a line attaching it to the boat.
“We stand with you in defence of international rules and norms as it relates to the South China Sea,” Harris told Marcos at the start of talks in the presidential palace in Manila.
“An attack on the Philippine armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke the US mutual defence commitment … that is our unwavering commitment to the Philippines.”
The Philippines is one of a number of Southeast Asian nations with a claim to the South China Sea.
Beijing claims the waterway almost in its entirety and has become increasingly assertive in recent years, creating artificial islands and developing military bases.
Harris is due to visit Palawan, an island on the edge of the South China Sea,during her three-day visit to the Philippines and will also reaffirm Washington’s support for a 2016 international tribunal ruling that rejected China’s expansive claim to the waters, a senior US official said. Beijing has refused to accept the ruling.
The US has had a long and complex relationship with the Philippines and the Marcos family. Marcos’s dictator father ruled the former US colony for 20 years with the support of Washington, which saw him as a Cold War ally.
Relations between the two countries soured when Duterte became president, however. In 2016, Duterte called Barack Obama a “son of a whore” over warnings he would be questioned by the then US president over his controversial drug war in which thousands have been killed.
China has ignored a 2016 international court ruling that its claims to the South China Sea had no legal basis [File: Eloisa Lopez/Reuters]
Washington is now seeking to bolster its security alliance with Manila under his successor.
Marcos said he did not “see a future for the Philippines that does not include the United States”.
That includes a mutual defence treaty and a 2014 agreement, known by the acronym EDCA, which allows for the US military to store defence equipment and supplies on five Philippine military bases, and allows US troops to rotate through those bases.
The US and the Philippines have expressed support for accelerating EDCA’s implementation as China becomes increasingly assertive.
On Sunday, Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, commander of the Western Command (WESCOM), said Philippine authorities had sent a vessel to examine an object seen floating in the South China Sea early on Sunday about 730 metres (800 yards) west of Thitu Island.
The team tied the object to their boat and started towing it before a Chinese coastguard vessel approached and blocked their course twice before deploying an inflatable boat that cut the tow line, then took the object back to the coastguard ship, the statement said without elaborating on the object or why China might have taken it.
China’s embassy in the Philippines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Thitu, known to Filipinos as Pagasa, is close to Subi Reef, one of the seven artificial islands in the Spratlys on which China has installed surface-to-air missiles and other weapons.
Thitu is one of nine features that the Philippines occupies in the Spratly archipelago and is the Southeast Asian country’s strategically most important outpost in the South China Sea.
The Philippine foreign ministry said in a statement it would conduct a thorough review of the incident and was awaiting detailed reports from maritime law enforcement agencies.
Police in the Philippines have accused the country’s prison service chief of ordering the assassination of a prominent radio journalist.
Percival Mabasa, 63, was shot dead as he drove to his radio studio in a Manila suburb last month.
According to officials, he had previously made allegations of corruption against Bureau of Corrections Director General Gerald Bantag.
Mabasa was also a vocal opponent of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Mr Bantag, who is currently suspended from duty, will “probably be the highest official of [the] land ever charged with a case of this gravity”, said Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla, according to an AFP report.
Police have also filed a murder complaint against his deputy security officer Ricardo Zulueta. The alleged gunman, Joel Escorial, surrendered to authorities earlier in October after his face was captured from security footage.
Mr Bantag allegedly ordered Mabasa’s murder following “the continued expose by the latter against the former on his show”, Eugene Javier of the National Bureau of Investigation told reporters.
Earlier last month, Mr Bantag, who had been hired by former president Rodrigo Duterte, had reportedly told broadcaster DZRH that he had nothing to do with the killing.
It will be up to prosecutors at the justice department to decide if there is enough evidence to file charges in court.
Mabasa, who went by the name Percy Lapid on his radio show, was killed on 3 October – the second journalist to be killed since current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took office.
“That the incident took place in Manila indicates how brazen the perpetrators were, and how authorities have failed to protect journalists as well as ordinary citizens from harm,” the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines had earlier said.
At least 187 journalists have been killed in the past three decades in the Philippines, according to international watchdog Reporters without Borders (RSF).
RSF ranks the Philippines 147 out of 180 countries on its Press Freedom Index, down nine places from 2021.
Tremors were felt as far away as Manila, more than 330 kilometres (205 miles) to the south of the epicentre.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake rocked the northern Philippines, forcing the closure of an international airport, sending panicked residents into the streets, and causing significant damage to a hospital.
The earthquake, which struck at about 10:59 pm on Tuesday (14:59 GMT) near the upland town of Dolores, was felt as far away as the capital Manila, more than 330km (205 miles) to the south.
Police and civil aviation officials said that at least 26 people were injured in Ilocos Norte, the home province of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, where the international airport in the capital city of Laoag was ordered to close temporarily on Wednesday due to damage from the earthquake.
(Al Jazeera)
The president – also known as Bongbong – warned of aftershocks on Wednesday and advised people, in a tweet, to stay out of tall structures.
As aftershocks continue, we remain in coordination with DPWH for the inspection of roads and buildings, DSWD for relief, DOE for outages and DILG for monitoring.
Everyone is advised to keep out of tall structures.
Patients were evacuated from the 200-bed Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital in Batac city,about 60km (37 miles) north of the epicentre, which sustained some of the worst reported damage so far.
At least two towns in Cagayan province temporarily lost electricity due to damaged power lines. A number of bridges and roads in outlying provinces were damaged.
In the town of La Paz in Abra, a century-old Christian church was damaged, with parts of its belfry collapsing and some walls cracked, littering the church’s grassy yard with debris, officials said.
Notable quake, preliminary info: M 6.5 – 11 km ENE of Dolores, Philippines https://t.co/q9auPOPbUW
Dolores town police officer Jeffrey Blanes said that “buildings were shaking so people ran outside”.
A member of the public in Aparri municipality, located more than 100km (62 miles) from the epicentre, posted on the website of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) that it was the most extensive tremor they had experienced.
“The longest earthquake I’ve ever felt. Thank God we’re safe. Stay safe everyone,” the post read.
Photos of collapsed ceilings in some of the hospital rooms, as well as dozens of patients waiting in chairs on the driveway outside, were posted on the local fire service’s official Facebook page.
“The authorities made us leave the building while they checked the building integrity… We are currently conducting an assessment of the damage,” hospital worker Tom Tabije told the AFP news agency by phone.
The civil defence office in Abra province,where Dolores is located, said there were no immediate reports of casualties, but the extent of the damage would not be known until morning.
“We are unable to make a thorough assessment of the impact now because it is nighttime and we are also thinking about our people’s safety,” Abra rescuer Joel de Leon told AFP by phone.
Eleven people were killed, and several hundred were injured in July when a magnitude 7.0 quake hit the mountainous Abra province triggering landslides and ground fissures. In October 2013, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the central island of Bohol, killing more than 200 people.
Earthquakes are a daily occurrence in the Philippines, which sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic and volcanic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
According to a report released on Wednesday by the advocacy group Global Witness, Latin America saw the highest number of environmentalist deaths worldwide in 2017.
Up to 200 environmentalists were killed worldwide in 2021, with 75 percent of the deaths taking place in Latin America. The entire number was 227 in 2020.
Mexico had the most deaths at 54 and jumped from its number of 30 reported in 2020. Colombia and Brazil came next, with 33 and 26 cases respectively.
Mexico, Brazil, Nicaragua, and Peru together accounted for over half the total deaths. Indigenous people were the recipients of more than 40% of the attacks, said the report.
In Mexico, officials believe local authorities are implicated in about 40% of the killings based on preliminary investigations.
Land conflicts biggest cause
“These lethal attacks continue to take place in the context of a wider range of threats against defenders who are being targeted by the government, business and other non-state actors with violence, intimidation, smear campaigns, and criminalization,” the organization said in its report.
“This figure is likely to be higher as the reasons behind attacks on land and environmental defenders are often not properly investigated nor reported,” it added.
Global Witness said land conflicts such as resource exploitation, logging, mining, and large-scale agriculture were behind many attacks.
Killings related to mining and extraction activities were highest with 27 cases. Mexico, the Philippines, and Venezuela had 14, 6, and 4 cases respectively.
A British headteacherwho groomed at least 131 children worldwide using social media while working at a school in Iraq has been jailed for 20 months.
Using Facebook Messenger, Nicholas Clayton, 38, of The Wirral, made contact with kids as young as 10 and requested their images with the intention of sexually abusing them.
He was apprehended after paying a 13-year-old Cambodian boy to come to Malaysia so they could meet and asking the boy for pictures of his bare upper torso.
When he returned to the UK, the National Crime Agency (NCA) detained him after receiving information about the communication.
Investigators found Clayton had been messaging hundreds of boys from across the globe, spanning the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Iraq, Morocco, Turkey and others over a period of just three months.
He appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on 23 August where he admitted three counts of sexual communication with a child under 16 years and one charge of inciting the sexual exploitation of a child.
On Tuesday, he was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for 15 years.
New Facebook plans will ‘hide similar predators’
The case has prompted fresh calls for a “robust” Online Safety Bill, with the NSPCC warning plans by Meta, which owns Facebook, to introduce end-to-end encryption will “blindfold” authorities to similar predators.
Andy Burrows, head of child safety online policy at the charity, said: “Clayton’s case highlights the ease with which offenders can contact large numbers of children on social media with the intention of grooming and sexually abusing them.
“Private messaging is the frontline of child sexual abuse online. It’s therefore concerning that Meta plans to press on with end-to-end encryption on Facebook Messenger, which will blindfold themselves and law enforcement from identifying criminals like Clayton.
“The UK government can show global leadership in tackling online child abuse by delivering without delay a robust Online Safety Bill that embeds child protection at the heart of every social media site.”
New Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan has previously said there are no plans to water down the proposals for new internet safety laws, which Mr Burrows welcomed as “really encouraging”.
Hazel Stewart, from the NCA, said: “Nicholas Clayton abused his position of trust as a headteacher by attempting to sexually contact and exploit children, using technology to access hundreds of potential victims across the globe.
“Clayton was very cautious and careful in his communications, making them appear to be innocent, but as NCA investigators we could see the patterns of predatory grooming he was using on vulnerable children.
“Protecting children from sex offenders is a priority for the NCA, and we continue to pursue criminals in the UK and internationally to ensure abusers like Clayton are held to account.”
Facebook ‘taking our time to get it right’
A Facebook spokesperson said: “We have no tolerance for child exploitation on our platforms and are building strong safety measures into our plans.
“We’re focused on preventing harm by banning suspicious profiles, defaulting under-18s to private or ‘friends only’ accounts, and more recently introduced restrictions that stop adults from messaging children they’re not connected with.
“We’re also encouraging people to report harmful messages to us so we can see the contents, respond swiftly and make referrals to the authorities. As we roll out this technology we’re taking our time to get it right and working with outside experts to help keep people safe online.”
With climate change threatening crops, the Philippines government has made boosting agriculture one of its top priorities. But this may not be enough to avert the farming crisis.
The Philippines’ government announced more money to fight the agriculture crisis, raising the funding by 40% in comparison to last year. Around €3.3 billion ($3.3 billion) will be allocated for agriculture, which has been designated one of the government’s five top budget priorities alongside education, infrastructure, the health sector, and social protection.
The country’s president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., aims to transform agriculture “from being an economic laggard to one of the main drivers for growth and employment,” officials said in a statement. In June, the new president named himself agriculture minister.
Experts welcomed the funding hike with cautious optimism, pointing to devastating losses suffered by the Philippines’ farmers owing to natural disasters. These loses have worsened in recent years due to climate change.
Climate is key
According to economist Jan Carlo Punongbayan, the way to help agriculture is to fight the climate crisis.
“Unless the government puts climate change mitigation and management to the fore, agriculture will continue to be in the doldrums in decades to come,” Punongbayan told DW.
Situated in the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippines is one of the of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. The country experiences an average of 20 typhoons each year.
According to government data, the country’s agricultural output shrank last year by about 2.6% due to a decline in crops caused by adverse weather conditions. This comes against the background of international experts, such as the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warning that stronger typhoons and longer dry spells are likely to massively disrupt agriculture worldwide and cause chronic food insecurity.
Harvest ‘literally washed away
Speaking to DW, environmentalist Ryan Bestre lamented that farmers in the Philippines do not get adequate government support in the form of subsidies and insurance to recover from natural disaster
“Their harvest and everything they have worked so hard for is literally washed away. Before they can even recover, another typhoon comes,” said Bestre. The activist is the founder of ‘I am Hampas Lupa’ — an organization that advocates for elevating the stature of farming by addressing the links between agriculture, climate change, and mindful food consumption.
“Our farmers, among the poorest of society, are the ones continuously whipped by the effects of climate change over and over again. Where is the justice in that?” asked Bestre.
Bestre and other environmental advocates are calling for “climate justice” and demanding accountability from big corporations they say are responsible for climate change.
“Climate justice is when Filipinos and other climate impacted communities around the world are protected with laws and that corporations responsible for climate change are held accountable,” said Virginia Benosa-Llorin from Greenpeace Philippines.
“Filipinos are at the front lines of a climate emergency,” she said.
Last May, the Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights released a report on their inquiry on the effects of climate change on human rights. In the report, they called for enacting laws to curb corporations and businesses from committing human rights abuses.
“The impacts of climate change are cross-cutting among sectors and on the whole gamut of human rights, such as the rights to life, health, water, sanitation, education, and healthy environment,” said Roberto Cadiz, former CHR Commissioner who headed the inquiry.
“The issue of climate change is also an issue of climate justice, where those who contribute least to it are affected most by it,” Cadiz told DW.
Philippines running out of farmers
Agriculture in the Philippines also faces another issue — its image. The average Filipino farmer is 57-59 years old. Last year, the Department of Agriculture warned that declining employment in the agricultural sector combined with the ageing of farmers would contribute to a critical shortage of farmers in just 12 years.
But there are also youth groups who want to change the image of farming so that it doesn’t appear to be only for the old and the poor.
“The climate crisis is the defining crisis of our generation,” Antonio Flores from Farm Lab told DW.
Flores’ NGO works with farmers on implementing techniques that are less damaging to the environment.
“Agriculture and our farming communities will be the hardest hit but it also has immense potential to regenerate the earth,” he added.
Youth sector infusing hope in agriculture
Other activists, such as Norhaya Vasquez Demacaling, focus on raising a young generation of what they call agri-entrepreneurs — a new kind of Filipino farmers.
Demacaling is campus director for School for Experiential and Entrepreneurial Development (SEED) which aims to train thousands of students at three locations across the Philippines by 2024.
The 29-year-old told DW climate change has impacted the sustainability of farming as a job.
“The loss of income from farming contributes to the lack of confidence among local growers. Their children, who are expected to replace them, are avoiding agriculture-related careers because they see it as a one way ticket to poverty,” Demacaling said.
With a population of around 110 million, government data shows that in 2018 the number of Filipinos working in the agriculture sector sank to 9.9 million, the lowest since 1995.
“Through agri-entrepreneurship, we can make farming and agriculture fun, sexy, exciting and profitable,” said Demacaling.
Furigay was mayor of Lamitan, a city in the Philippines’ restive south. But police pointed to the suspect’s “long history” of disputes with Furigay.
Her assistant and one of the university’s security guards were also killed during the attack.
Police have said Furigay’s daughter was in a stable condition in hospital.
Alexander Gesmundo, chief justice of the Philippines, was on his way to speak at the ceremony moments before the shooting.
In a statement, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said police would “thoroughly and swiftly investigate these killings and bring all involved to justice”.
A former Philippine congressman and religious cult leader was arrested Thursday over his wife’s killing and corrupt practices, police said, ending a years-long manhunt.
Ruben Ecleo, 60, was head of a group called the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association when his wife’s remains were found in a bin bag at the bottom of a ravine on the central island of Cebu in 2002.
He was arrested months later in a police raid on his home on the island of Dinagat, during which 17 people were killed.
Ecleo was bailed in 2004 and won a House of Representatives seat in 2010 — held up as an example of an infamous culture of impunity in the country, where the rich and powerful are rarely held to account.
In 2012, a year after he stopped attending the trial, a Cebu court convicted him of parricide and sentenced him to 30 years in prison.
Manila police described Ecleo as the “#1 Top Most Wanted Person” in the Philippines.
A police report said he was arrested Thursday at a gated housing enclave in the northern city of Angeles, where he had been living under another name.
His driver was also detained for trying to obstruct Ecleo’s arrest, police added.
In 2006, another court convicted Ecleo of corruption committed when he was a town mayor in Dinagat in the early 1990s.
Police said they used an arrest warrant issued over the graft case to detain Ecleo after a lengthy stake-out.
Ecleo became leader of his religious group, which claims millions of adherents, after the 1987 death of his namesake father, who had founded the group in 1965.
Some Catholic penitents flagellated themselves and prayed outside closed churches in the Philippines to commemorate the death of Jesus on Good Friday, despite strict government orders for people to stay indoors to contain the coronavirus.
The capital, Manila, and many parts of the Catholic-majority Southeast Asian country have been in “enhanced community quarantineâ€, but that did not stop some devotees from doing their annual penitence for Lent.
“We are here because we want the spread of COVID-19 to end and we pray that things in our country will go back to normal,†said Edward Degusano, who joined a self-flagellation ritual outside a church in Manila.
COVID-19 is the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, which emerged in central China late last year and has spread around the world, infecting some 1.6 million people and killing nearly 100,000 of them.
The Philippines has recorded 4,195 coronavirus cases, with its death toll reaching 221 on Friday.
Bishops in Manila suspended services for the Holy Week due to the lockdown, which began in mid-March.
The Catholic church has expressed disapproval of the self-punishments, saying prayers and sincere repentance are enough for sins to be forgiven.
But many Catholics in the Philippines perform religious penance during the week leading up to Easter as a form of worship and supplication, believing that the ritual can even cure illnesses and make wishes come true.
The country’s total death toll caused by the coronavirus outbreak was 10,003 while the number of cases registered rose to 110,238 from 102,136 on Wednesday, according to the country’s health ministry.
Over 6,000 people were in intensive care, the data showed.
Burials via video calls a grim reality for coronavirus-hit Spain
The massive jump in toll figures came as Spain’s Social Security Minister Jose Luis Escriva warned the country’s 2020 budget deficit would widen “significantly but temporarily” as a result of the measures taken to halt the spread of coronavirus.
Speaking at the same conference, Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz said 2.3 million people are currently receiving unemployment benefits, costing the state around 1.22 billion euros ($1.33 billion) a month.
Spain has recorded the world’s second-highest tally of deaths from Covid-19, after Italy.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has told security forces they should shoot dead anyone causing “trouble” in areas locked down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
About half the country’s roughly 110 million people are currently under quarantine — including millions in deep poverty, left jobless by tough restrictions on movement.
Hours before Duterte gave the order in a speech late Wednesday, nearly two dozen people from a slum community in the capital Manila were arrested for holding a protest that accused the government of failing to provide food aid to the poor.
“My orders are to the police and military, also village officials, that if there is trouble or the situation arises that people fight and your lives are on the line, shoot them dead,” Duterte said.
“Instead of causing trouble, I’ll send you to the grave,” he said, adding that the outbreak is getting worse more than two weeks into the lockdown.
The Philippines has so far detected 2,311 cases and reported 96 deaths, but the country has only begun ramping up testing and so the number of confirmed infections is expected to keep rising.
Duterte, who came to power in a landslide 2016 election victory, is known internationally for his foul-mouthed tirades and deadly crackdown on drugs, which is overwhelmingly supported by Filipinos.
But critics allege that Duterte’s drug war targets the poor and leaves the rich and powerful untouched, while reinforcing a culture of impunity.
The president’s latest comments drew immediate rebuke from rights groups who urged the government to provide much-needed relief supplies instead of issuing threats of violence.
“It is deeply alarming that President Duterte has extended a policy of shoot-to-kill… Deadly, unchecked force should never be referred to as a method to respond to an emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic,” Amnesty International Philippines said in a statement.
As frequently happens after Duterte makes an announcement that sparks concern, officials said the president used hyperbole to make a point.
Philippine National Police Chief Archie Gamboa said on Thursday that officers would not begin shooting troublemakers dead.
“Probably the president just overemphasized on implementing the law in this time of crisis,” he added.
The quarantine, which affects Manila’s 12 million people, has shuttered most businesses and brought nearly all social, religious and business activity to a halt.
