Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during his fourth State of the Nation Address at the House of Representatives in Manila. Photo: AP

Duterte says he allows Chinese vessels to fish in Philippine waters to prevent war

In his State of the Nation address, the president says Manila ‘owns the West Philippine Sea but China controls it’, pointing to the presence of guided missiles on Chinese-made artificial islands
The two-hour speech also saw him ask Congress to reimpose the death penalty for drug-related crimes and set up a new ministry for the welfare of overseas workers

Topic | The Philippines

Raissa Robles

Published: 9:36pm, 22 Jul, 2019

Updated: 3:07pm, 13 Dec, 2019

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during his fourth State of the Nation Address at the House of Representatives in Manila. Photo: AP

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Raissa Robles

Raissa Robles has written for the SCMP since 1996. A freelance journalist specialising in politics, international relations, business and Muslim rebellion, she has contributed to Reuters, the Economist Intelligence Unit, Daily Mail, Times of London, Radio Netherlands and Asiaweek. She runs the award-winning investigative and opinion blog, raissarobles.com. Her book, Marcos Martial Law: Never Again, a brief history of the dictatorship won the 2017 National Book Awards for Non-Fiction. Her Twitter handle is @raissawriter.