Manila

Latest Stories

FILE - This photo taken from a C-130 transport plane with Defense Chief Delfin Lorenzana and Armed Forces Chief Gen. Eduardo Ano shows Thitu Island off the South China Sea on April 21, 2017. A Chinese coast guard vessel twice blocked the Philippine naval boat before seizing the debris it was towing Sunday off Philippine-occupied Thitu Island, Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos said Monday., Nov. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

Chinese coast guard seizes rocket debris from Filipino navy

By Jim Gomez - Associated Press

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the Malacanang Palace in Manila, Philippians, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. Blinken is on a ten day trip to Cambodia, Philippines, South Africa, Congo, and Rwanda. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)

Blinken: China should not hold global concerns ‘hostage’

By Jim Gomez - Associated Press

A damaged car is seen along a road after a strong quake hit Bangued, Abra province, northern Philippines on Wednesday July 27, 2022. A strong earthquake shook the northern Philippines on Wednesday, causing some damage and prompting people to flee buildings in the capital. Officials said no casualties were immediately reported. (AP Photo/Raphiel Alzate)

Strong earthquake kills 4, injures dozens in northern Philippines

By Jim Gomez and Aaron Favila - Associated Press

Chinese structures and buildings on the man-made Fiery Cross Reef at the disputed Spratlys group of islands in the South China Sea are seen on March 20, 2022. The Philippine government has summoned a senior Chinese diplomat in Manila to protest the harassment by the Chinese coast guard of a research vessel manned by Filipino and Taiwanese scientists in the disputed South China Sea, officials said Tuesday May 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Sea feud with China flares as Marcos prepares for presidency

By Jim Gomez - Associated Press

Former Sen. Ferdinand &quot;Bongbong&quot; Marcos Jr. speaks to supporters during his proclamation rally promoting his presidential bid for the 2022 national elections, at the Philippine Arena, Bulacan province, north of Manila, Philippines on Feb. 8, 2022. Marcos Jr.'s rise loomed large as the Southeast Asian nation marked the anniversary Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, of the army-backed uprising that toppled Marcos and became a harbinger of change in authoritarian regimes worldwide. (AP Photo/Basilio Sepe, File)

The son also rises: Philippines weighs another Marcos as president

By Richard S. Ehrlich - Special to The Washington Times

In this June 30, 2010, file photo, then newly inaugurated Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, center, swears in local officials during his first day at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila, Philippines. Aquino, the son of pro-democracy icons who helped topple dictator Ferdinand Marcos and had troublesome ties with China, died Thursday, June 24, 2021, a cousin and public officials said. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)

Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino, democracy scion, dies at 61

By Jim Gomez - Associated Press

Philippines protests `blocking’ of its patrol ships by China

By JIM GOMEZ - Associated Press

A worker wearing mask as a precaution against coronavirus outbreak, raises his fist as he shouts slogans during a May Day rally in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, May 1, 2021. Workers in Indonesia marked international labor day on Saturday curtailed by strict limits on public gatherings to express anger at a new law they say could harm labor rights and welfare. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Workers protest Indonesia’s labor law in May Day rallies

By NINIEK KARMINI and ANDI JATMIKO - Associated Press

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows Chinese vessels anchored the Whitsun Reef located in the disputed South China Sea. Tuesday, March 23, 2021. The United States said Tuesday it’s backing the Philippines in a new standoff with Beijing in the disputed South China Sea, where Manila has asked a Chinese fishing flotilla to leave a reef. China ignored the call, insisting it owns the offshore territory. (©2021 Maxar Technologies via AP)

Philippines deploys more patrol ships amid rift with China

By JIM GOMEZ - Associated Press

In this photo provided Sunday, March 21, 2021, by the Philippine Coast Guard/National Task Force-West Philippine Sea, some of the 220 Chinese vessels are seen moored at Whitsun Reef, South China Sea on March 7, 2021. The Pentagon's Indo-Pacific Command recently unveiled a software application that military officials say will monitor Chinese military anger at U.S. activities in the region in a bid to reduce tensions. (Philippine Coast Guard/National Task Force-West Philippine Sea via AP)

US backs Philippines in standoff over South China Sea reef

By JIM GOMEZ - Associated Press

Robert Sicat sprays a protective coating on a Dragon head at a creekside slum at Manila's Chinatown, Binondo Philippines on Feb. 4, 2021. The Dragon and Lion dancers won't be performing this year after the Manila city government banned the dragon dance, street parties, stage shows or any other similar activities during celebrations for Chinese New Year due to COVID-19 restrictions leaving several businesses without income as the country grapples to start vaccination this month. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

AP PHOTOS: Dragon dance ban saddens Manila residents

By AARON FAVILA - Associated Press

9 prisoners killed as rival gangs clash in Philippine prison

Associated Press

In this handout photo provided by the Department of National Defense Public Affairs Office (PAO), Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana, left, prepares to sit for a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe, right, at the Department of National Defense in Quezon city, Philippines, Friday Sept. 11, 2020. The two discussed ways in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, revisited the 2004 Philippines-China Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Defense Cooperation and also issues on the South China Sea. (Department of National Defense PAO via AP)

South China Sea Watch: More talks and more tensions

Associated Press

In this handout photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he meets members of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila, Philippines on Monday Aug. 30, 2020. Duterte publicly ordered the country's top customs official to shoot and kill drug smugglers in one of his most overt threats during a deadly four-year campaign that has been the centerpiece of his presidency. (King Rodriguez/Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division via AP)

Philippine leader pardons US Marine in transgender killing

By Jim Gomez - Associated Press

Philippine court orders US Marine’s early release in killing

By JIM GOMEZ - Associated Press

In this handout photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he meets members of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila, Philippines on Monday Aug. 30, 2020. Duterte publicly ordered the country's top customs official to shoot and kill drug smugglers in one of his most overt threats during a deadly four-year campaign that has been the centerpiece of his presidency. (King Rodriguez/Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division via AP)

Duterte orders customs chief to shoot, kill drug smugglers

By JIM GOMEZ - Associated Press

This photo provided by Ronnel Manjares shows Kobe Christ Manjares during a video call with him, upper right, at a hospital in metropolitan Manila, Philippines, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Manjares' 16-day-old son Kobe was heralded as the country's youngest COVID-19 survivor. But the relief and joy proved didn't last. Three days later, Kobe died on June 4 from complications of Hirschsprung disease, a rare birth defect. (Ronnel Manjares via AP)

Lives Lost: Parents hoped baby Kobe would play basketball

By KIKO ROSARIO and JOEAL CALUPITAN - Associated Press

Health workers perform a rapid test on a patient at a parking lot that has been converted into an extension of the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center in Manila, Philippines on Monday, Aug. 3, 2020. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is reimposing a moderate lockdown in the capital and outlying provinces after medical groups appealed for the move as coronavirus infections surge alarmingly. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Philippine capital returning to lockdown as virus surges

By JIM GOMEZ - Associated Press

In this Tuesday, June 9, 2020 photo, Harvey Curtis, left, discusses repair plans with customer Jack Matheson outside Sidecountry Sports, a bike shop in Rockland, Maine. Matheson is looking forward to getting his 40-year-old Raleigh back on the road. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Pandemic leads to a bicycle boom, and shortage, around world

By DAVID SHARP and KELVIN CHAN - Associated Press

FILE - In this May 28, 2020, file photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, talks during his speech at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila, Philippines. The U.N. human rights office called on the Philippines government in a new report Thursday, June 4, to end all violence targeting suspected drug offenders and to disband private and state-backed paramilitary groups which have caused serious human rights violations in the country.(Ace Morandante/Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division via AP, File)

UN office denounces human rights violations in Philippines

By JAMEY KEATEN and JIM GOMEZ - Associated Press