Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said that there is a possibility to grant Eastern Visayas drug lord Kerwin Espinosa legal immunity as part of the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection Program if his testimonies will pass the WPP’s assessment. Aguirre told reporters after the announcement of Espinosa’s arrest in Abu Dhabi that this will have […] More
A recent survey by the Social Weather Station (SWS) released on Tuesday revealed that Filipinos trust the United States the most and China the least. The results of the survey showed that 76% of Filipinos had “much trust” to the US while 13% were undecided and 11% had “little trust”. Final results showed that the […] More
An official from the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) submitted a “confidential” report to the Senate blue ribbon committee, which was discovered to be taken from a satirical news site. This action prompted Senators to seek a review of the NICA’s budget of P700-million on Monday, October 17. Chairman of the committee, Gordon, revealed that […] More
On Tuesday, a foreign affairs expert stated that President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement on the Philippines not pressing claims over the Scarborough Shoal is “one step away from forgetting” its rights over the contested territory. University of the Philippines College of Law professor Jay Batongbacal said in his Unang Hirit interview that our President needs to […] More
The decision on the scheduled burial of the late President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani has been put off by the Supreme Court (SC) once again, as the status quo ante order (SQAO) on defense department’s preparations for the burial is extended to November 8, according to SC Public Information Office chief […] More
During his interview with Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television, President Rodrigo Duterte said that he is willing to participate in joint military exercises, or “war games,” with China and Russia, adding that he will stop war games between the Philippines and traditional ally the United States. Asked if he would consider joint war games with China […] More
President Rodrigo Duterte said a few weeks ago that he cannot dissociate himself from the Marcoses. Part of the reason was the fact that his father, Vicente Duterte, served as one of the Cabinet members of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Another reason would be that his son-in-law’s family hails from Paoay, Ilocos Norte, giving […] More
Recently, President Rodrigo Duterte has been making strange diplomatic moves, particularly with his apparent cozying up with Beijing while seemingly veering away from the US, the Philippines’ traditional ally for ages. In fact, his first state visit as president of the Philippines is to Beijing, from October 18 to 21, instead of the traditional state […] More
Actress Cynthia Patag and singer Jim Paredes and his wide Lydia have been slammed by Filipino netizens, who accused them of politicizing the death of musician Noli Asensio. Both Patag and Paredes are vocal supporters of Liberal Party presidential candidate Mar Roxas II in the last elections. Both have also criticized President Rodrigo Duterte. Patag […] More
The United States backs Philippine’s efforts to boost its ties with China and does not consider Duterte’s state visit to Beijing as an insult, said State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner over the weekend. “As to whether he’s pivoting east or west, I can’t speak to that. Certainly, it’s in the Philippines’ interest to have […] More
President Rodrigo Duterte said that he would never get to ride on a jet ski to the disputed waters in Scarborough Shoal, just like what he announced during one of the presidential debates. During his interview with Al Jazeera aired this weekend, Duterte said that his earlier ‘jet ski’ statement was a hyperbole to show […] More
President Rodrigo Duterte has made several strong remarks against the United States – threatening to curse US President Barack Obama at the prospect of the latter bringing up the killings in the Philippines, telling Obama to “go to hell,” making statements about “breaking up with the US,” and stopping the joint US-PH military exercises. Despite […] More