World News by Wild Rose

After a decade of start-stop negotiations, the European Union and the Philippines have found their way to a “substantial agreement” on free trade – one that analysts say could pave the way for Brussels to lock in an Asean-wide pact. The breakthrough, announced on Tuesday, capped talks that began in 2016 and stalled a year later, only to resume again in 2024. “I am proud to say we have delivered a substantial agreement that reflects the ambition both sides brought to the table,” EU trade chief...

Taiwan’s transfer of a former coastguard vessel to the Philippines has triggered a dual controversy – raising concerns over the interests of Taiwanese fishermen and prompting strong criticism from Beijing. The matter centres on a 61-metre (200-foot) retired cutter handed over to the Philippine Coast Guard through a non-governmental organisation on Monday, as Taipei and Manila expand practical maritime cooperation despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties. Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office...

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...

Home prices in the Philippines increased at their slowest pace in seven years in the second quarter, as economic expansion decelerated and speculative buyer demand waned.

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...

The Philippines is selling its first retail bonds of the year starting next week, opting for a shorter tenor as interest rates remain elevated.

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...

The Philippines is looking to expand its pool of individual debt investors with a new issuance of Retail Treasury Bonds, according to people familiar with the plan.

The Philippines has suffered three deadly school shootings since June. In each case, at least one weapon belonged to a relative working in government or law enforcement, whether as an official service issue or a privately licensed firearm. On Friday, a student at Banga National High School in South Cotabato province shot dead two classmates, wounded several others and then killed himself. He reportedly used the licensed firearm of his father, who works in the Education Department’s risk...

Manila, Sept. 21 (Jiji Press)--A 90-year-old second-generation Japanese woman born in the Philippines who was separated from her father after World War II is planning to visit his native Okinawa Prefecture in southernmost Japan for the first time by the end of this year. Adelaida Kakazu is searching with the help of a support group for relatives in Japan, hoping to meet them during the trip...

The Philippines’ rise to upper-middle-income status was supposed to mark a new phase for one of Southeast Asia’s most closely watched emerging economies. Instead, analysts say the milestone has done little to shield the country from short-term pressures weighing on growth: sluggish public spending, delayed infrastructure, high living costs and the fallout from investigations into alleged irregularities in flood control projects. Those strains have left the Philippines looking like a regional...

Philippine Coast Guard accuses China of dangerous military manoeuvres near Palawan province.

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...

Philippines set for historic vote in Bangsamoro after decades of conflict

Bessie* left the Philippines for Malaysia more than a decade ago to care for other people’s children. She stayed to look after their parents instead. Certified as a carer, she now freelances around Kuala Lumpur’s Klang Valley, earning up to 25 ringgit (US$6) an hour for round-the-clock shifts, with clients providing her meals, transport and housing. “My former employer was very understanding and offered to release me earlier so I could earn a higher salary as a caregiver,” the 50-year-old...

The Philippine Coast Guard says 41 more bodies have been recovered from the M/V June Aster, with 13 people still missing

Thirty charred bodies found inside a burned passenger ferry in the western Philippines arrived at a port Saturday for identification after a ship fire killed at least 35 people and left more than 50 others missing earlier this week. Retrieval operations will continue as more bodies are still inside the MV June Aster, coastguard officials said without providing a count. There were 43 survivors among the 132 people on board. The ferry sailed from the capital, Manila, and was off the village of...

Philippine firefighters ⁠found charred remains aboard a burned-out ferry on Friday, more than a day after the ship caught fire on its way from Manila to the western province of Palawan, killing five people and leaving more than 80 missing. Thick smoke and extreme heat had earlier prevented firefighters from entering the vessel, which was carrying more than 130 people when it was engulfed in flames on Wednesday night. The fire was declared out at 10.15am local time. Coastguard spokeswoman...

Dozens of passengers are missing after a fire tore through a ferry in the Philippines, killing at least 5 people.

The Chinese military appeared to fire flares near a Philippine aircraft operating close to the Subi and Mischief Reefs, according to the Philippines’ coastguard, as tensions continue to spread to other South China Sea hotspots. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) released video clips on Thursday of footage which it said had been filmed from the aircraft on Monday. PCG spokesman Jay Tarriela said on social media that the unarmed plane was on a maritime domain awareness flight over part of the...