Page 2 - Philippines

Chinese coast guard rams, damages Philippine vessel in South China Sea

A Chinese coast guard ship used a powerful water cannon on Sunday then rammed and slightly damaged an anchored Philippine government vessel off an island inhabited by Filipinos in the disputed South China Sea, said the Philippine coast guard. There were no injuries among Filipino crewmen of the BRP Datu Pagbuaya, part of the fisheries fleet that provides support to Filipino fishermen. The Chinese coast guard targeted Pagbuaya off the Philippines-occupied Thitu island in the latest flare-up of the long-simmering territorial disputes involving Manila, Beijing and four other governments. China did not immediately issue any reaction but has repeatedly restated its sovereignty and control over virtually the entire South China Sea, a major trade route, despite a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated its historic claims. That ruling has been rejected by China but supported by the United States and its Western and Asian allies. Pagbuaya and two other Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic ...

Second 6.9-magnitude quake hits southern Philippines near Davao Oriental

Two powerful offshore earthquakes struck the same region in the southern Philippines hours apart on Friday. The first one, a 7.4 magnitude quake in the morning, killed at least five people, set off landslides, damaged hospitals and schools and prompted evacuations of coastal areas nearby because of a tsunami warning, which was later lifted. The second one had a preliminary 6.9 magnitude. Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology chief Teresito Bacolcol said that Friday night's earthquake that jolted Manay town in Davao Oriental province was caused by movement in the same fault line, the Philippine Trench, at a depth of 10 kilometres (6 miles). It wasn't immediately clear if it was a separate earthquake or an aftershock of the 7.4 magnitude quake. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., facing his latest natural disaster after a recent deadly quake and back-to-back storms, said the potential damage was being assessed, and rescue teams and relief operations were being prepared and .

Typhoon Matmo regains strength, heads toward Hainan, Guangdong in China

Matmo regained strength on Saturday morning, becoming a typhoon again as it left the Philippines and moved toward southern China's Hainan province, after it had earlier weakened into a storm. The typhoon had sustained wind speeds of 118 kph on Saturday, according to China's National Meteorological Centre. It is expected to strengthen further before it makes landfall on Sunday in Guangdong and Hainan provinces. Flights from Haikou, the capital of Hainan, will be cancelled starting Saturday night at 11 pm, according to the official China National Radio. The city also said classes will be cancelled and public transport and businesses will be shut on Saturday. Some train routes in Hainan province were cancelled Saturday and service will be suspended again on Sunday. China's national weather observatory issued an orange alert warning for the storm on Saturday. Matmo on Friday passed through the Philippines, where thousands of people were evacuated but no immediate casualties were report

Typhoon blows into Philippines, complicating disaster response after quake

A typhoon blew into the northern Philippines on Friday, complicating the country's disaster response to a deadly earthquake in a central province and two other recent storms. Typhoon Matmo blew into Dinapigue town in Isabela province from the Pacific with sustained winds up to 130 kph and was to blow northwestward over a vast agricultural valley and mountain provinces, where residents in some flood- and landslide-prone villages were evacuating. Schools suspended classes, and cargo and fishing vessels were prohibited from entering the rough seas along the path of the typhoon. It was expected to blow into the South China Sea on Saturday on a course toward southern China, Philippine forecasters said. Hong Kong's observatory said Matmo would pass by the territory on an expected path toward Hainan Island and the mainland's Guangdong province over the weekend. Matmo, locally known as Paolo, was the 16th tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines this year. The Southeast Asian archipelago ..

Rescuers search for survivors as Philippines earthquake kills at least 72

Rescuers used backhoes and sniffer dogs to look for survivors in collapsed houses and other damaged buildings in the central Philippines after an earthquake killed at least 72 people and injured more than 200 others. The death toll was expected to rise from the 6.9 magnitude quake that hit about 10 pm Tuesday and trapped an unspecified number of residents in the hard-hit city of Bogo and outlying rural towns in Cebu province. Sporadic rain and damaged bridges and roads have hampered the race to save lives. A dangerous quake On Wednesday night, rescuers in orange and yellow hard hats used spotlights, a backhoe and bare hands to sift through the rubble of concrete slabs, broken wood and twisted iron bars for hours in a collapsed building in Bogo city. No survivor was found. The earthquake occurred at a dangerously shallow depth of 5 kilometres and was centred about 19 kilometres northeast of Bogo, a coastal city of about 90,000 people in Cebu province where officials reported about

Strong earthquake kills 69 in central Philippines days after deadly storm

An offshore earthquake of magnitude 6.9 collapsed walls of houses and buildings late Tuesday in a central Philippine province, killing at least 20 people, injuring many others and sending residents scrambling out of homes into darkness as the intense shaking cut off power, officials said. The epicentre of the earthquake, which was set off by a local fault, was about 17 kilometres northeast of Bogo, a coastal city of about 90,000 people in Cebu province where at least 14 residents died, disaster-mitigation officer Rex Ygot told The Associated Press by telephone. The death toll in Bogo was expected to rise. Workers were trying to transport a backhoe to hasten search and rescue efforts in a cluster of shanties in a mountain village hit by a landslide and boulders, he said. It's hard to move in the area because there are hazards, Glenn Ursal, another disaster-mitigation officer told The AP, adding some survivors were brought to a hospital. Six people, including three coast guard ...

Typhoon hits Hong Kong, China after killing dozens in Taiwan, Philippines

Typhoon Ragasa, one of the strongest storms to hit Asia in years, whipped waves taller than lampposts onto Hong Kong promenades and turned seas rough on the southern Chinese coast after leaving deadly destruction in Taiwan and the Philippines. In Taiwan, 17 people died on Wednesday after floods submerged roads and carried away vehicles in one county, and 10 deaths were reported in the northern Philippines. More than 2 million people were relocated across Guangdong province, the southern Chinese economic powerhouse, China's state-run Xinhua news agency said. A weather station in Chuandao town recorded maximum gusts of 241 kph (about 150 mph) at noon, a high in Jiangmen city since record-keeping began. State broadcaster CCTV said the typhoon made landfall along the coast of Hailing Island in Yangjiang city at about 5 pm, packing maximum winds near the center of 144 kph (89 mph). Violent winds battered trees and buildings, with torrential rain lowering visibility, video from Xinhua ...

Jaishankar meets Philippine counterpart Tess Lazaro on UNGA sidelines

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has met with his Philippine counterpart Tess Lazaro here and discussed bilateral cooperation in the UN and the Indo-Pacific region. Jaishankar, who arrived in New York on Sunday for the high-level UN General Assembly meeting, said he was pleased to meet Lazaro on the sidelines of the UNGA. "We followed up on the recent State Visit of President @bongbongmarcos to India. Also discussed our cooperation in the UN and the Indo-Pacific region," Jaishankar said on social media. Lazaro said her discussion with Jaishankar "reaffirms our 2 countries' commitment as Strategic Partners to actively develop cooperation in political, defence and security, the maritime domain, etc." Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos last month visited India for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top officials to boost cooperation in defence, trade and investment, agriculture, tourism, and the pharmaceutical industry.

Philippine police arrest 49 amid violent clashes at anti-corruption protest

Philippine police arrested 49 people suspected of hurling rocks, bottles and fire bombs at officers and blocking heavily guarded roads and bridges leading to the presidential palace Sunday while a peaceful anti-corruption rally took place in the capital, officials and witnesses said. The melee outside the country's seat of power unfolded while more than 33,000 other protesters rallied in a historic park and a democracy monument in Manila. They expressed outrage over a corruption scandal involving lawmakers, officials and construction company owners who allegedly pocketed huge kickbacks from flood-control projects in the impoverished Southeast Asian country that is regularly buffeted by storms and typhoons. The hourslong rampage by about 100 mostly club-wielding people, some of whom waved Philippine flags and displayed carton posters with anti-corruption slogans, wounded about 70 Manila law enforcers, according to the Manila police. Schools were cancelled due to the violence. Police

Thousands protest in Philippines against massive corruption scandal

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the Philippine capital on Sunday to express their outrage over a corruption scandal involving lawmakers, officials and businesspeople who allegedly pocketed huge kickbacks from flood-control projects in the poverty-stricken and storm-prone Southeast Asian country. Police forces and troops were put on alert to prevent any outbreak of violence. Thousands of police officers were deployed to secure separate protests in a historic Manila park and near a democracy monument along the main EDSA highway, also in the capital region, where organisers hoped to draw one of the largest turnouts of anti-corruption protesters in the country in recent years. The United States and Australian embassies issued travel advisories asking their citizens to stay away from the protests as a safety precaution. A group of protesters waved Philippine flags and displayed a banner that read: No more, too much, jail them, as they marched in the Manila protest and ...

Tensions flare as Chinese, Philippine ships collide in South China Sea

China's coast guard accused a Philippine ship of deliberately ramming one of its vessels on Tuesday near Scarborough Shoal, a disputed territory that both countries claim in the South China Sea. A coast guard statement said more than 10 Philippine government ships coming from various directions entered the waters around the shoal, which is called Huangyan island in Chinese. It said it deployed water cannons against the vessels. The encounter came six days after China announced it was designating part of Scarborough Shoal as a national nature reserve. There was no immediate comment from the Philippines. The government in Manila said last week it was filing a diplomatic protest against the designation of a nature reserve at what it calls Bajo de Masinloc. China and the Philippines have clashed repeatedly around outcroppings in the South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety. The two countries are among several that have competing claims to territory in the waters, whic

Scarborough Shoal: What makes it strategic? What is China planning there?

The Philippines and China lay claim to the Scarborough Shoal but sovereignty has never been established and it is effectively under Beijing's control

Marcos Jr backs outrage over corruption, says protests should be peaceful

The Philippine president on Monday encouraged the public to express their outrage over massive corruption that has plagued flood-control projects in one of Asia's most typhoon-prone countries but said street protests should be peaceful. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vowed that an investigation by an independent commission would not spare even his allies in the House of Representatives and the Senate, where several legislators have been identified and accused in televised congressional hearings of pocketing huge kickbacks, along with government engineers and construction companies. Marcos first spoke about the corruption scandal in July in his annual state of the nation speech. Unlike recent violent protests in Nepal and Indonesia, street rallies against alleged abuses in the Philippines have been smaller and relatively peaceful. Outrage has largely been vented online, including by Catholic church leaders, business executives and retired generals. A planned protest on September 21

China's military warns Philippines against provocations in South China sea

The two countries have been engaged in a long-running maritime standoff in the strategic waterway that has included regular clashes

US backs Philippines, rejects China's nature reserve plan in disputed sea

The Philippine government filed a diplomatic protest against China on Friday, foreign affairs department spokesperson Angelica Escalona said Saturday

India pushing rice exports to largest importer of world Philippines

India is pushing rice exports to the world's largest importer of the commodity -- the Philippines -- and to tap the opportunity, a large delegation of leading exporters will visit the Southeast Asian nation next month, an official said. The Philippines is an important market for India in agricultural products exports. In 2024, the Philippines imported agricultural goods worth about USD 20 billion, with key imports including semi-milled rice, wheat and meslin, oilcake, food preparations, and palm oil. India exported agricultural products worth USD 413 million to the Philippines in 2024, accounting for about 2 per cent of the Philippines' total agricultural imports. India's major exports to this market were bovine meat, groundnut, rice, and tobacco. "Philippines' is the largest importer of rice in the world, with imports in 2024, valued at USD 2.52 billion. However, there is significant opportunity to expand India's rice exports in the Philippines as, despite India being the world's

IPO-bound NephroPlus expands ops in Philippines, acquires 5 more clinics

IPO-bound NephroCare Health Services Ltd on Friday announced the acquisition of five new dialysis clinics in the Philippines, bringing its total footprint in the country to 39. The newly acquired clinics include Santiago, Isabela Dialysis Center, Cabuyao, Laguna Dialysis Center, Binondo, Manila Dialysis Center, CP Garcia Ave, Diliman, Quezon City Dialysis Center and E Rodriguez, Quezon City Dialysis Center. The Hyderabad-based company entered the Philippines market in fiscal 2020 and has since expanded rapidly, growing from 3,614 treatments per month in fiscal 2021 to 22,073 treatments per month in fiscal 2025. "This expansion marks a milestone in our journey in the Philippines, which has now become one of our key countries of operations after India," Rohit Singh, Group CEO of NephroCare Health Services, said in a statement. NephroCare Health Services, known for its NephroPlus brand, initially expanded into the Philippines by acquiring a majority stake in Royal Care Dialysis Clinic

TCS, Now Corporation partner to boost Philippine digital infrastructure

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Monday said it has partnered with NOW Corporation's telecom arm to boost digital infrastructure and enable financial inclusivity in the Philippines. Now Telecom is a public sector telecommunications company in the Philippines offering services across mobile networks and fixed wireless. "Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a global leader in IT services, consulting, and business solutions, has partnered with NOW Corporation's telecom arm Now Telecom, a public sector telecommunications company, to bolster national digital sovereignty, enable financial inclusivity, and build a clean network for the Philippines," according to a release. With this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in place, the release said, TCS will support the company with capabilities to expand trusted networks, provide sovereign cloud technology and a cyber-defence suite, alongside creating citizen-centric services in areas such as healthcare and digital banking, promoting financial .

Philippines to be involved in war over Taiwan, despite PRC protests: Marcos

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday his country would inevitably be drawn kicking and screaming into any war over Taiwan due to its proximity to the self-ruled island and the presence of large numbers of Filipino workers there, despite China's strong protest over such remarks. Marcos also told a news conference that the Philippines' coast guard, navy and other vessels defending its territorial interests in the South China Sea would never back down and would stand their ground in the contested waters after the Chinese coast guard on Monday staged dangerous blocking maneuvers and used a powerful water cannon to try to drive away Philippine vessels from the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal. It's the latest flare-up of long-simmering territorial disputes in the busy waterway, a key global trade route, where overlapping claims between China and the Philippines have escalated in recent years. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also lay claims to parts of the contested .

Trade talks with India to begin soon: Philippines President Marcos

India and the Philippines are taking concrete steps towards launching formal negotiations for a Preferential Trade Agreement, Philippines President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr said on Wednesday. Addressing the 'India-Philippines CEO Roundtable Meeting', organised by FICCI, here, President Marcos emphasised that the Philippines and India see the PTA as a strategic platform to harness their shared strengths and elevate our economic partnership. "We are working to find common ground to make the PTA come as quickly as possible. We have found ways to quicken the process with strong support from both government and business chambers, we are taking concrete steps towards launching formal negotiations," he said, according to a release issued by FICCI. Marcos also stated that the government has taken a slew of measures to attract more Indian investments by ensuring ease of doing business in the Philippines. "These reforms show our commitment to create a truly enabling environment for ...