The policy has raised ‘activity and presence’ of military exercises from the US, India, Germany and even Russia, in the South and East China seas, stirring up a ‘South China Sea conflict vortex’.
While military officers hope the move will bring ‘lasting peace’, Duterte supporters describe Marcos Jnr’s surprise bid to resume talks as ‘stupid’ and ‘unpatriotic’.
In addition to long-time ally the US, the Philippines is expanding its military alliances with Japan, Australia and Germany.
A top general has warned of ‘destabilisation efforts’ instigated by former officers against President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr.
Kamandag 7 marks heightened US interest in troop deployment in the region according to perceived challenges.
Filipinos have been warned against investing in schemes claiming to be linked to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s proposed state fund.
How safe are Philippine government websites? Don’t ask the agency whose password was apparently “Admin123”.
Philippine politicians are questioning whether President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr and Vice-President Sara Duterte are united on Manila’s approach towards China.
China says the Philippines reneged on its promise to remove the BRP Sierra Madre from Second Thomas Shoal. But a former defence chief for Manila says no such agreement ever existed.
Public pressure and the Chinese Coast Guard’s actions against Philippine vessels and fishermen have prompted Philippine senators to take a firmer stance.
More than 2,700 people were rescued, and computer data and safety box vaults seized, in a police raid on Xinchuang Network Technology, Inc in late June.
Supporters of the US$8.9 billion Maharlika Investment Fund say it will attract the foreign investors needed to pump-prime one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies.
Senior Chinese officials are likely to be ‘unhappy’ and ‘disappointed’ over Marcos Jnr’s moves to forge closer military ties with the US without regard for China’s sensitivities.
The Balikatan war drills feature several firsts, including precise combat scenarios, cyber defence exercise and ‘littoral live-fire’ activities in a show of ‘joint and equal partnership’ between the military allies.
New EDCA sites key to country’s defence in the ‘strategic’ Luzon Strait against possible Chinese aggression in South China Sea, analysts say.
With part of the US-China rivalry playing out in the South China Sea, conflict could escalate if littoral states like the Philippines take sides, observers note.
Such attacks are ‘nothing new’, analysts say, citing 2009 massacre of 58 victims ahead of local elections, Marcos Snr’s rise to power on back of political violence.
Transport groups have accused President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr of forgetting his election pledge to prevent a ‘total phase-out’ of the iconic vehicles.
Many Filipinos were tricked into thinking they were hired to work at overseas call centres, but instead were forced to work at online scam rooms.
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr unveiled a ‘soft-launch’ for his multibillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund in Switzerland – a country his own family was accused of hiding assets of ‘criminal origin’.
Smugglers have taken advantage of rising food prices and the public’s desperation, with local farmers suffering crop and profit losses.
With US-Philippine ties back on track, analysts say Washington will not expect Marcos Jnr to make major policy moves similar to Duterte’s pronouncement back in 2016.
Among concerns of data privacy and abuse around the Philippines’ SIM Card Registration Act, critics also point to a section of the law that lets authorities carry out ‘spoofing’ of a registered SIM.
The police chief for Metro Manila said once-rampant kidnappings in the nation’s capital linked to offshore gaming operators had declined. Then came fresh reports of another abduction by ‘Chinese-looking individuals’.
President wants ‘Maharlika Investments Fund’ set up with money from pension funds; many worry such a fund could be used to launder money and embroil nation in a 1MDB-type embezzlement scandal, as in Malaysia.
Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s ‘friend to all, enemy to none’ foreign policy could be tested when he visits Beijing next year.
Jaime FlorCruz, the former CNN Beijing Bureau chief, who once bitterly fought Ferdinand Marcos Snr, has been nominated as the Philippines ambassador to China by the late dictator’s namesake, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr.
Bureau of Corrections director Gerald Bantag was named among 160 possible suspects for the death of broadcaster Percival Mabasa, 63, who was shot dead on October 3.
Six Chinese gambling sector workers have been escorted onto a flight back to China and thousands more illegal employees could also face deportation.
‘Do not make us choose between the US and China,’ warns Marcos as she presents seven-point plan, advocates engagement with Beijing.
