World News by Wild Rose

The Philippines’ decision to block messaging platform Discord for less than a day following a series of school shootings has raised questions about the government’s response to child safety online, with analysts describing the move as a show of regulatory muscle that did little to address underlying problems. The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) announced on Thursday that it had lifted the ban after what officials described as successful negotiations with Discord...

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr is weighing an absolute pardon for Mary Jane Veloso, a former death row inmate detained since her 2010 conviction for drug trafficking in Indonesia. “The Office of the President is seriously considering granting an absolute pardon to Mary Jane Veloso on humanitarian grounds in support of the government’s commitment to protecting Filipino migrant workers,” lawmaker Albert Garcia said on Wednesday, as quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer. “There will be...

The Philippine Senate has made it mathematically easier to convict Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio, but observers said the ruling could intensify a battle over an impeachment trial already viewed by the public as deeply divisive. The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, ruled on Wednesday that only senator-judges who are able to take part in the trial should be counted in determining the threshold for conviction. Under the Philippine constitution, a two-thirds vote of the Senate is...

Sara Duterte, the impeached vice-president of the Philippines, is facing an increasing risk of conviction and a lifetime ban on politics, as allies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr weigh invalidating key votes of support in her Senate trial. The 24-member Senate, where Duterte is on trial, is expected to debate on Wednesday whether the votes of several absent senators should even be counted. Two Duterte-aligned senators, Rodante Marcoleta and Jinggoy Estrada, have both been arrested on...

For fishermen like Joey Marabe in the Philippine province of Zambales, the geopolitical contest playing out in the South China Sea can be measured in dwindling catches and shrinking incomes, as the presence of Chinese vessels around a contested shoal increasingly limits where they can work. “It’s a huge drop. Before, a lot of us who could go out to Scarborough Shoal used to bring home around 15,000 pesos (US$238) a week, a comfortable amount for our families,” said Marabe, a resident of Masinloc...

Poland’s delivery of Black Hawk helicopters to the Philippines has given Warsaw a foothold in Manila’s defence market as it seeks to expand exports from its growing defence industry, with analysts saying drones, air defence and potentially co-production could pave the way for a broader partnership. Polish deputy foreign minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski said on Tuesday that Warsaw was keen to pursue further defence partnerships with the Philippines, as Poland poured US$50 billion into...

Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte is expected to appear in public for the first time on Wednesday since being transferred to the International Criminal Court 18 months ago to face murder charges related to his war on drugs. Duterte, 81, served as president from 2016 to 2022, before being charged with crimes against humanity for creating, funding and arming death squads that targeted narcotics peddlers and users. He was arrested and taken to The Hague in March 2025. On Wednesday, judges...

With 98.56 percent of party-list votes counted, no party has received a majority, according to unofficial results.

A predominantly Muslim region in the southern Philippines held its first parliamentary elections on Monday, seen as a crucial step in the long quest for self-rule after decades of insurgency and violence. Reporting from the region, France 24’s look Jan Camenzind Broomby, takes a look at the vote’s significance, as well as the tensions surrounding election day.

Three people were killed and 15 others wounded as gunfire erupted hours before the polls opened on Monday in a semi-autonomous Muslim region of the Philippines set to choose its first elected parliament. The vote is the culmination of an on-off peace process that began in the late 1990s and established the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the country’s far south. Cotabato police chief Jibin Bongcayao said the shooting took place just before midnight as members of rival...

However, deadly violence marred the elections one day before the polls open in the southern Philippine region.

Voters in a predominantly Muslim autonomous region of the Philippines began casting ballots in the area’s first-ever parliamentary election, more than a decade after a peace deal with separatists ended four decades of conflict.

It's a milestone of the self-determination fight in this region of the Philippines. It must be kept peaceful and fair.

Voters in an autonomous southern Philippine region will cast their ballots on Monday in the region’s first parliamentary elections, seen as a crucial step in the quest for self-determination and lasting peace after decades of insurgency and violence. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM, covers five provinces, three cities and 63 villages across eight special geographic area clusters. It has nearly 2.4 million voters, with election officials aiming for an 80 per cent...

Philippine Defence Secretary accused China of coercion, bullying and aggression after being handed a note mid-panel.

Martin Romualdez, a cousin of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, accumulated so much wealth over the past three years that he had to convert it into mansions and shares to avoid scrutiny, the Office of the Ombudsman alleged on Tuesday – a day after filing a plunder case against the former House speaker. The Ombudsman filed the case on Monday against Romualdez, former House appropriations committee chairman Zaldy Co and two others, accusing them of accepting at least 7.44 billion pesos...

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte posted bail for a criminal case accusing her of threatening to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. She said she fears for her own life.

A Philippine court on ⁠Friday ordered the ⁠arrest of Vice-President ⁠Sara Duterte in connection with a criminal case accusing her of making threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, the first lady and a former House ‌speaker. A trial court issued a warrant for Duterte’s arrest in the case involving three counts of grave threats, according to a court order that also set bail at 120,000 pesos (US$1,900) for each count. “Regardless of the ⁠question on jurisdiction, she has no intention of...