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MANILA (Reuters) - Philippines president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Wednesday said his country's ties with China will expand and "shift to a higher gear" when he takes power, signalling intent to advance outgoing leader Rodrigo Duterte's pro-Beijing agenda. Marcos, who won last week's election by a landslide, said he held "very substantial" talks by phone on Wednesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who assured him of support for his "independent foreign policy", and agreed to hold more comprehensive discussions. The 64-year-old son and namesake of the notorious former dictator said Xi also acknowledged his late father's role in opening diplomatic...

Pact between Marcos, Duterte families shaped the vote Bongbong' Marcos didn't just win the presidential election in the Philippines this week. He won it by a two-to-one landslide, despite the fact that he is the extremely entitled son of a former president who stole at least ten billion dollars and a mother who spent the loot partly on the world's most extensive collection of designer shoes (3,000 pairs). Moreover, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, to give him his real name, has virtually no accomplishments other than that name. Yet his name and his inherited wealth, originally stolen from the parents of the...

A missing Pablo Picasso painting was spotted at the home of the Philippines’ controversial former first lady — as she celebrated her son’s presidential victory, according to a former official familiar with the artwork. Imelda Marcos — the widow of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos — was filmed hugging her son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., in footage that aired this week with the apparent long-lost masterpiece “Reclining Woman VI” hanging on a wall behind them. The bombshell in the background was broadcast in a news segment by the local station TV Patrol Tuesday after Marcos Jr. became the country’s next...

In a stunning landslide victory, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr won the Philippines’ presidential election, bringing him to the frontlines of US-China confrontations in the South China Sea amid early rumblings that he is Beijing’s puppet “Manchurian candidate.” Marcos Jr’s election advantage was that he is the son of his “idol,” the somewhat popular, late US-backed dictatorial president Ferdinand Marcos Sr and his flamboyant wife Imelda, who is now 92. ... Marcos Jr, convicted of tax evasion in 1997, faces multi-million dollar tax cases in the Philippines and the US over his father’s vast estate. China, meanwhile, denies it has any...

(CNN)Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son of the former Philippine dictator, is on the cusp of winning the Philippine presidential election by a landslide, according to preliminary and unofficial results, taking the Marcos dynasty one step closer to the Malacañang Palace, 36 years after the family fled a mass uprising. Marcos Jr has about 30 million votes compared to his closest rival, the outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo, who has about 14 million votes, according to a partial and unofficial tally of the Commission on Elections

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The son and namesake of ousted Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos took a commanding lead in an unofficial vote count in Monday's presidential election in the deeply divided Asian democracy. With more than 77 percent of the votes tabulated, Marcos Jr. had 25 million, far ahead of his closest challenger, current Vice President Leni Robredo, a champion of human rights, who had 11.9 million. The election winner will take office on June 30 for a single, six-year term as leader of a Southeast Asian nation hit hard by two years of COVID-19 outbreaks and lockdowns. Still more...

Philippines on high alert as all systems go for election Preparations for Philippines presidential elections, in Manila Sun, May 8, 2022 MANILA (Reuters) -The Philippine police and military said on Sunday they were on high alert as last-minute preparations continued for the country's general election, even as the overall situation remained "relatively peaceful". Filipinos vote on Monday to choose President Rodrigo Duterte's successor, a vice president, 12 senators, hundreds of congressmen and thousands of governors, mayors and provincial and city councillors. The presidential race is a rematch between Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the country's late...

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Thousands of American and Filipino forces began on Monday one of their largest combat exercises in years that will include live-fire maneuvers, aircraft assaults, urban warfare and beach landings in a showcase of U.S. firepower in the northern Philippines near its sea border with Taiwan. The annual exercises, called Balikatan — Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder — will run up to April 8 with nearly 9,000 navy, marines, air force and army troops, including 5,100 American military personnel...

A small but restive volcano south of the Philippine capital spewed a 1.5 kilometer (0.9 miles) plume on Saturday, prompting authorities to raise an alert level and evacuate more than a thousand residents. The alert for the Taal volcano, about 70 km (45 miles) south of central Manila, was increased to level 3 from level 2 on the 5-level scale, which the seismology and volcanology agency said meant "there is magmatic intrusion at the main crater that may further drive succeeding eruptions". Taal is one of the world's smallest active volcanoes. Despite standing at only 311 meters (1,020 feet), it...

Thousands of people were evacuated in The Philippines on Saturday after a volcano erupted with plumes of steam and ash that went nearly two miles in the sky, Reuters reported. The threat level for Taal volcano, located in a lake south of the capital Manila, was raised from level two to level three on a scale of zero to five on Saturday morning after it spewed plumes that reached up to 9,800 feet, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said in a statement. A total of 1,100 people, including fisherman in the lake, were evacuated by authorities, PHIVOLCS...

The more one delves into history, the more one is humbled by what one doesn’t know. Case in point... March 15 is the anniversary of the beginning of a naval campaign fought between two colonial powers in the year 1646 half-a-world away from Europe. Having grown up in an English-speaking country, I often catch myself adopting the conventional historical view of the British navy as presented in literature and film as an unconquerable force. Their most common foes—the Spanish and the French—are normally presented as formidable but hapless. They are numerous enough to appear to be a challenge, but ineptitude,...

Prelates call for unified effort in the fight against climate changeCatholic leaders in the Philippines have vowed never to accept donations from exploitative industries such as mining as part of their efforts to fight climate change. The vow came in a Jan. 28 pastoral letter issued by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). They said that church leaders should lead by example in fighting for a greener environment. “We continue to suffer in an increasingly warming world with an ailing biosphere triggered by exploitative practices that benefit the wealthy few but cause poverty and hunger to many,” the...

The Philippines has finalised a deal to acquire a shore-based anti-ship missile system from India for nearly $375 million to beef up its navy, the Southeast Asian nation's defence minister said. The Philippines is in the late stages of a five-year, 300 billion pesos ($5.85 billion) project to modernise its military's outdated hardware that includes warships from World War Two and helicopters used by the United States in the Vietnam War. Under the deal negotiated with the government of India, Brahmos Aerospace Private Ltd will deliver three batteries, train operators and maintainers, and provide logistics support...

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday people who have not taken COVID-19 shots will be arrested if they disobeyed stay-at-home orders as infections hit a three-month high. Duterte in an televised address to the nation said he was asking community leaders to look for unvaccinated people and make sure they were confined to their homes. "If he refuses, if he goes out his house and goes around the community, he can be restrained. If he refuses, the captain is empowered now to arrest recalcitrant persons," Duterte said.

Typhoon Rai packed sustained winds of 195 kilometers (121 miles) per hour with gusts of up to 270 kph (168 mph) before blowing out into the South China Sea on Friday. At least 375 people were killed, 56 were missing and 500 were injured, according to the national police. The toll may still increase because several towns and villages remained out of reach due to downed communications and power outages, although massive cleanup and repair efforts were underway. Many were killed by falling trees and collapsing walls, flash floods and landslides. A 57-year-old man was found dead hanging from a...

The Philippines on Saturday recorded 291 new COVID-19 cases to bring the country’s caseload to 2,837,555, the Department of Health (DOH) reported.The DOH said that of the 291 new reported cases, 260 or 89 percent were recorded in the recent 14 days (December 5-18).

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A powerful typhoon left at least 19 people dead, knocked down power and communications in entire provinces and wrought widespread destruction mostly in the central Philippines, officials said Saturday. A governor said her island province has been “leveled to the ground.” Typhoon Rai blew away Friday night into the South China Sea after rampaging through southern and central island provinces, where more than 300,000 people in its path were evacuated to safety in advance in a pre-emptive move officials say may have saved a lot of lives. At its strongest, Rai packed sustained winds of 195...

Chinese state-run media says 'PLA will heavily attack US troops who come to Taiwan's rescue' China's state-run media on Thursday (Dec. 9) warned that Chinese forces would attack U.S. troops if they attempted to come to Taiwan's aid when the "reunification force" invades. On Tuesday (Dec. 7), U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that his country would "take every action" to ensure that a scenario in which Russia and China simultaneously invade Ukraine and Taiwan, respectively, "never happens." In an editorial posted on Thursday, China's state-owned Global Times attempted to cast doubt about America's willingness to defend Taiwan in...

Novavax (NVAX) investors have had to be patient, as delays have seen its Covid-19 vaccine lag competitors’ offerings. However, recently the vaccine has been showing evidence it could still play a prominent role in the ongoing global fight against the coronavirus. On Wednesday, the company announced two positive developments. First off, the biotech announced that NVX-CoV2373 has been granted emergency use authorization (EUA) in the Philippines, where it will go to market under the brand name COVOVAX. The Philippines is one of the world’s most populace countries, with over 110 million people, however, only 22% are considered fully vaccinated, although...

Chinese coast guard ships used water cannons to shoot a powerful stream of water at two Philippine boats carrying supplies to a highly disputed shoal in the South China Sea, prompting Philippine officials to warn the Chinese about their mutual defense treaty with the United States. Second Thomas Shoal, near the Philippine province of Palawan, is a strategic waterway that many countries have tried to claim. The Associated Press reported that China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all have overlapping claims. Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. told AP no one was hurt in the incident Tuesday... ......