Tag: philippines

Philippines hopes to launch EU free trade negotiations ‘very soon’

MELBOURNE, March 4, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippines hopes to launch formal free trade agreement negotiations with the European Union “very soon”, Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo told AFP in an interview Monday. The Southeast Asian nation, which depends heavily on trade with China, wants to expand its economic relations with other countries to achieve greater “resiliency”, the minister said. “We’re hoping… to very soon begin free trade negotiations with the EU,” Manalo said. The Philippines […]

Philippines foreign minister urges China: ‘stop harassing us’

MELBOURNE, March 4, 2024 (AFP) – Philippine foreign minister Enrique Manalo told AFP on Monday that his country wants to solve maritime disputes with China peacefully — but delivered a simple message to Beijing: “stop harassing us”. Speaking on the sidelines of an ASEAN-Australia summit in Melbourne, Manalo defended his government’s policy of publicising Chinese manoeuvres in contested maritime territory — including the recent passage of warships near Scarborough Shoal. “It’s merely trying to inform […]

Faulty warnings, deforestation turned Philippine rains ‘deadly’: study

MANILA, March 1, 2024 (AFP) – Faulty warning systems, poverty and deforestation of mountains in the southern Philippines turned recent unseasonably heavy rains into deadly disasters, scientists said in a report Friday. More than 100 people were killed in landslides and floods in January and February on the country’s second-largest island of Mindanao as the northeast monsoon and a low pressure trough brought downpours. A study by the World Weather Attribution group found the unsually […]

President Marcos: Philippines on ‘frontline’ of maritime disputes, ‘will not yield’

CANBERRA, Feb 29, 2024 (AFP) – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos told Australia’s parliament his country was on the “frontline” of a battle for regional peace Thursday, pledging resolve as he sought support in maritime disputes with China. With Beijing’s warships loitering in waters off his country’s coast, Marcos told Australian lawmakers that “the Philippines now finds itself on the frontline against actions that undermine regional peace, erode regional stability, and threaten regional success”. He vowed […]

Six soldiers killed, one militant dead in Mindanao as hunt for bombers continues

MANILA, Feb 19, 2024 (AFP) – Six soldiers and at least one Islamist militant have been killed in the southern Philippines, an army spokesman said Monday, as security forces hunted down fighters believed to have bombed a Catholic mass last December. The clashes took place Sunday in the jungle near the town of Munai on Mindanao island, Philippine army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala told AFP. “This is part of the operation against the Dawlah Islamiyah. […]

Philippines to file charges against sunken oil tanker owners

MANILA, Feb 14, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippine government said Wednesday it will file criminal charges against the owners of an oil tanker that sank off a central island nearly a year ago, causing severe marine pollution. More than half of the vessel’s 800,000-litre (211,000-gallon) oil cargo spilled into the sea over hundreds of kilometres off Mindoro island, famed for having some of the world’s most diverse marine life. A justice department statement said it […]

Philippine Coast Guard accuses Chinese vessels of ‘dangerous’ maneuvers

    MANILA, Feb 11, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippine Coast Guard on Sunday accused Chinese vessels of “dangerous” manoeuvres during a nine-day patrol near a reef off the coast of the Southeast Asian country. The Philippine vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua was deployed in early February to patrol the waters around Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground in the South China Sea, and “ensure the safety of Filipino fishermen in the area”. The reef has […]

Quake halts search at Philippines landslide disaster site

MANILA, Feb 10, 2024 (AFP) – A strong earthquake in the southern Philipppines on Saturday halted a search for scores of people believed buried in a deadly landslide, forcing rescuers to vacate the area, officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the magnitude 5.8 quake that shook the Mindanao region at 11:22 am (0322 GMT), but rescuers were ordered to stop their search in the remote gold-mining village of Masara. […]

World’s biggest flying lab takes off in Asia, fighting air pollution for millions

CLARK, Philippines, Feb 9, 2024 (AFP) – NASA has kicked off a series of marathon flights in Asia with the world’s biggest flying laboratory, in an ambitious mission to improve the models that help to forecast and fight air pollution. Millions of deaths each year are linked to air pollution, and improving the ability to identify its sources and behaviour can lead to more accurate warning systems for the public. Starting this week in the […]

Child rescued after almost 60 hours in Philippine landslide

MANILA, Feb 9, 2024 (AFP) – The rescue of a child on Friday nearly 60 hours after a landslide hit a gold-mining village in the southern Philippines has been hailed as a “miracle” after searchers had given up hope of finding anyone alive. The girl, whose age has not been disclosed, had been among the more than 100 people missing after the rain-induced landslide hit the village, killing at least 15 people. She was found […]

Rescuers use bare hands to search for Philippine landslide survivors

MANILA, Feb 8, 2024 (AFP) – Rescuers used their bare hands and shovels to dig through mud on Thursday in a desperate search for survivors of a landslide in the Philippines as the number of missing nearly doubled to 90, an official said. Two days after the rain-induced landslide hit the mountainous gold-mining village of Masara on southern Mindanao island, searchers were in a race against time and weather. At least seven people were killed […]