Philippines

On May 9, the Philippines held presidential and vice presidential elections, which were a significant event in the development of the situation in the Indo-Pacific region. The course and results of these elections attracted close attention of such leading regional (and world) players as the United States and China. As one of the main participants…

Recent general elections in The Philippines appear to signal the island nation’s continued but gradual move out from under US subordination and its rise with the rest of Asia as China emerges as both a regional and global superpower. With Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. set to become the next president…

The Japan-Philippines meeting of Foreign and Defence Ministers in the so-called “2+2 format” that took place in Tokyo on April 9 is not an ordinary event in the series of others that shape the current situation in the Indo-Pacific region. First of all, it is worth noting once again the significance of the very presence of such a format in the relations between certain pairs…

The current Balikatan military exercises between the US and the Philippines (“balikatan” is a Tagalog word meaning “shoulder-to-shoulder”), which began on March 28 and will last until the end of April, are an event of wide-ranging significance, and thus deserve this author’s attention. First and foremost, because…

Chinese companies have secured a major contract to begin building the first phase of a new inter-city railway across the Philippine island of Luzon. The railway will connect the capital city, Manila, to cities and ports across the island. China’s Xinhua in an article titled, “Chinese contractors to build Philippines’ fastest, longest railway: ambassador,” would report: The Philippine…

On July 12 of this year, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines Teodoro Locsin issued a statement that immediately garnered the attention of leading news outlets because it concerned the situation in the South China Sea (SCSDahJTkfw, i.e. one of the most volatile parts of the world where (conflictingDahJTkfw interests of countries…

President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has announced his intentions to end the nation’s security agreement with the United States, specifically its Visiting Forces Agreement. The move puts into question America’s military presence in the Philippines and the influence it projects across Asia with it. In particular, it further complicates US attempts…

With little else to offer the nations of Southeast Asia, the US has opted instead to wield the familiar and well-honed weapon of political subversion to peel potential partners away from Beijing in Washington’s continued bid to rescue its waning primacy in Asia-Pacific. The most recent manifestation of this can be seen in the Philippines…

The visit by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Bin Mohamad, to the Philippines in March of this year once again raised the issue of ownership over Malaysia’s state of Sabah. Although during the visit itself this problem was not discussed, afterwards Mahathir Bin Mohamad told journalists during an interview that there were no…

Current US ambassador to the Philippines, Sung Kim, recently congratulated the Philippines’ armed forces and the US military for their successful completion of KAMANDAG, a joint military exercise held for the first time this…

A month ago I wrote an essay exposing the complex network of Western-sponsored terrorism in Asia (“Washington Jihad Express: Indonesia…

The only word I find for it is cloddish. I refer to the latest CIA-instigated attempt to initiate regime change against outspoken Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. The so-called ISIS terror attack in the minerals-rich southern…