Police say this is the 53rd case of casino-related abductions by fellow Chinese citizens since 2017, and are setting up a satellite office close to Manila’s gaming hub to better cope with the volume of kidnapping reports.

President Rodrigo Duterte is under pressure to make good on an election promise to cut congestion, but poor public transport, politics and traffic experiments that favour the rich have made the task a tall order.

The Philippine president has gone out of his way to improve relations with Beijing but tensions in the South China Sea seem likely to cast a long shadow over his upcoming visit.

China says its nationals are being targeted by gambling firms, resulting in hundreds of millions of yuan illegally flowing into the Philippines, and its citizens are being subjected to ‘modern slavery’ in the Southeast Asian nation.

Ronald Cardema tried to claim a seat in the House of Representatives as the nominee of a party representing the president’s young supporters, but at 34 years old, he wasn’t legally a youth.

Manila ‘owns the West Philippine Sea but China controls it’, the president said in his State of the Nation address, which also saw him ask Congress to reimpose the death penalty for drug-related crimes.

Protesters staged a rally in front of the Chinese consulate, while a survey found most Filipinos want the country to take back China-controlled islands in the disputed waterway.

The Philippine ship did not have a proper lookout and had too many crew aboard, according to the report.

Impeachment threats recently surfaced after Duterte said he would allow Chinese fishermen to fish within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

The Philippine president has been criticised for being too soft on China in his response to the sinking, but experts say working together could stop the investigation from turning into a squabble over jurisdiction in the waterway.

The captain of the Chinese vessel was ‘duty bound legally and morally’ to stop and check whether the other boat’s occupants were OK, Benigno Aquino said.

A strong showing by the president’s allies in midterm elections has paved the way for him to ‘transform the political system’. But proceedings were marred by malfunctioning vote counting machines

Tokyo’s new openness to foreign workers is expected to lure more than 50,000 Filipinos to the country by 2025. But would-be expats should be cautious – not only is the work hard, experts warn flawed labour policies lead to abuse.

A man in a hoodie claims the president’s family have links to drugs, while a female Olympian weightlifter is accused of conspiracy. Philippine authorities are doing their best to play down the chaos, but is something deeper afoot?

Peter Joemel Advincula says he’s the man seen in five YouTube videos implicating the president’s family as ‘principal’ operators in the country’s drug trade.

Davao’s city mayor is as controversial as her father, whom she may succeed in 2022. But long before she has put her hat in the ring, her candidacy is already being scrutinised.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman insists that naval drills that simulate repelling a foreign power from a Philippine island are not a response to China’s deployment of a large fleet to waters near Thitu – or Pagasa – island.

Presidential spokesman says Duterte has a few options to seek resolution in conflict – one of them being to lobby support from General Assembly.

More than 25,000 people have signed a statement of support for two former officials who claim China’s artificial island building has blocked 320,000 Filipinos from their fishing grounds. But Beijing has no plans to respond

Beijing says the situation in the South China Sea is stable and the move won’t harm its positive relations with Manila.

A delegation from Manila is in Beijing to seek loans and unlock funds for the Chinese-backed Kaliwa dam. But critics say the Duterte government has engineered the water shortage to gain backing for the dam, which indigenous tribes oppose.

State Secretary Mike Pompeo’s comments were the clearest sign Washington would intervene in the contested region, and sparked anger from Beijing.

The Rappler CEO is defiant after being charged with ‘cyber-libel’ over a 7-year-old report. With an election looming, many say the case is motivated by her criticisms of the Duterte government and warn of the thin end of the wedge

The Air Force will buy the helicopters, said the country’s defence chief.

Delfin Lorenzana has called for clarity on the countries’ responsibilities ‘when the need arises to be joined in arms’, noting current terms say the US will offer aid only if the Philippines’ metropolitan areas are attacked

Chinese migration to the Philippines has long been a divisive topic – even among a group you might find surprising

A senate probe has revealed just how little the men in Manila know about the real numbers of Chinese nationals in the country, but government records show official figures are well below observers’ estimates.

The Philippine and Chinese presidents were photographed in front of a painting that, according to a historian, represents the start of the Philippines’ colonisation by Spain.

Both sides still need to agree on how exactly to work together, the Philippine foreign secretary said on local television, as he revealed parts of the ‘confidential’ memorandum of understanding

Marcos’s conviction on seven counts of graft over her Swiss accounts is unprecedented and provides a glimpse into the gilded lives of the former Philippine first lady and her husband, Ferdinand.