Twenty people die in a single day in the southern Philippines following a fresh outbreak of separatist unrest in the strife-torn region.

Manila files fourth protest in three months over alleged land reclamation by Beijing in the disputed Spratly Islands territory of the South China Sea

The United States will “help” the Philippines in the event that China occupies disputed islands in the South China Sea, the US Chief of Naval Operations said on Thursday. Admiral Jonathan Greenert also stressed that the US would honour its mutual defence treaty with the Philippines amid a seething territorial conflict with China over the resource-rich waters.

The Philippine government launched an US$8.17 billion plan on Wednesday to rebuild the lives of millions battered by Super Typhoon Haiyan.

Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the Philippines on Tuesday for a two-day trip that could fast-track a deal on expanding the US military presence as a territorial dispute simmers with China.

Binay said he could no longer deliver President Benigno Aquino’s letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping asking him to spare the woman after China sent word that it would not be a “convenient time” for him to visit.

The United Nations launched a US$65 million global aid appeal on Monday to help hundreds of thousands of people affected by a deadly typhoon that ravaged the Philippines.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino named a senior diplomat as ambassador to Beijing on Wednesday, saying it showed Manila was serious about resolving a tense stand-off over territory in the South China Sea.

Typhoon Bopha killed at least six people in the Philippines on Tuesday as the strongest storm to hit this year forced 50,000 to seek refuge in emergency shelters.

Manila has asked China to clarify reports Beijing ordered its navy to board and interdict foreign ships entering its claimed territories in the South China Sea.

Dozens of members of a clan whose leaders are on trial for the Philippines’ worst political massacre are candidates for next year's elections, some for the president’s party, media and rights groups said on Friday.

Muslim rebels waging a decades-long separatist insurgency in the southern Philippines signed a pact with the government on Monday to end the conflict by 2016.

The Philippines officially named South China Sea waters off the country’s west coast the “West Philippine Sea”, in a move on that could further raise tensions with China.