Confronted by crises, Philippine president delivers state of the nation speech
Marcos' rise to power in mid-2022, more than three decades after an army-backed People Power revolt overthrew his father from office and into global infamy, was one of the most dramatic political comebacks. But he inherited a wide range of problems, including an economy that was one of the worst-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, which worsened poverty, unemployment, inflation, and hunger. His whirlwind political alliance with Duterte rapidly floundered, and she and her family, including her father former President Rodrigo Duterte, became her harshest critics. The former president was arrested in March in a chaotic scene at Manila's international airport and flown to be detained by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands for an alleged crime against humanity over his deadly anti-drugs crackdowns while still in power. Sara Duterte became the first vice president of the Philippines to be impeached in February by the House of Representatives, which is dominated by Marcos' allies, over a range of criminal allegations, including large-scale corruption and publicly threatening to have the president, his wife, and Romualdez killed by an assassin if she herself were killed during her disputes with them. The Supreme Court ruled Friday that the impeachment case was unconstitutional due to a key procedural technicality hampering Duterte's expected trial in the Senate, which has convened as an impeachment tribunal. House legislators said they were planning to appeal the decision.
Unlike his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, who nurtured cozy ties with China and Russia, Marcos broadened his country's treaty alliance with the United States and started to deepen security alliances with Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, and other Western governments to strengthen deterrence against increasingly aggressive actions by China in the disputed South China Sea. That stance has strained relations between Manila and Beijing. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said the Marcos administration would continue to shift the military's role from battling a weakening communist insurgency to focusing on external defense, specially in the disputed South China Sea, a vital global trade route where confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces have intensified in recent years. The president's statements were 'we would be unyielding and resistant to Chinese aggression in the West Philippines Sea,' Teodoro said in an interview by the ABS-CBN TV network using the Philippine name for the stretch of disputed waters off the western Philippine coast. 'We've been gearing up toward that mission.' Last week, US President Donald Trump hosted Marcos in the White House for talks on tariffs, trade, and further boosting their countries' treaty alliance. After returning to Manila, Marcos traveled to an evacuation center outside Manila to help distribute food and other aid to villagers displaced by back-to-back storms and days of monsoon downpours that have flooded vast stretches of the main northern Luzon region, including Manila. More than 6 million people were affected by the onslaught, which left more than 30 others dead, mostly due to drownings, landslides, and falling trees.
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Arab News
2 days ago
- Arab News
India, Philippines upgrade ties to strategic partnership on Marcos' Delhi visit
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Al Arabiya
3 days ago
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Philippines, India hold first joint sail in South China Sea
The Philippine and Indian navies have sailed together for the first time in the South China Sea, officials said on Monday, as President Ferdinand Marcos left Manila for New Delhi for a state visit. The Philippines has conducted 'maritime cooperative activities' with foreign navies since late 2023 as part of its push to counter China's expansive claims in the waterway, including joint sails with treaty ally the United States, as well as Japan, Australia, France and Canada. Philippine military chief Romeo Brawner said the idea for the two-day joint sail, which started on Sunday and was inside the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, came about when he met his counterpart in India in March. 'We did not experience any untoward incidents, but there are still those shadowing us - as we had already expected,' Brawner told reporters, without naming China. China's foreign ministry said in a statement that territorial and maritime disputes should be resolved between the countries directly involved and no third party should intervene. Indian navy ships that took part in the first joint sail of the two countries included guided missile destroyer INS Delhi, tanker INS Shakti and corvette INS Kiltan. The Philippines deployed two frigates, BRP Miguel Malvar and BRP Jose Rizal. The exercise coincided with Marcos' departure for a five-day trip to India, where he said he will look to deepen maritime ties and seek cooperation on sectors including defense, pharmaceuticals and agriculture. China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, overlapping with maritime zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The waterway is a strategic shipping route where $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce takes place. A 2016 ruling of an international arbitral tribunal found Beijing's sweeping claims have no basis under international law, a decision China rejects.
Arab News
3 days ago
- Arab News
Philippine, Indian navies begin first joint South China Sea patrols
MANILA: Indian Navy warships have begun patrolling areas of the disputed South China Sea with their Philippine counterparts for the first time, Manila's military said Monday. The two-day sail includes three Indian vessels and started Sunday, a day ahead of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos' scheduled trip to New Delhi for talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Philippines has heightened defense cooperation with a range of allies over the past year after a series of clashes in the contested waterway. Beijing claims nearly the entirety of the South China Sea despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. India's naval vessels arrived in Manila for a port visit late last week. The patrol 'started yesterday afternoon, then it's ongoing up to this moment... the activity at the moment is replenishment at sea,' Lt. Col. John Paul Salgado told AFP. While in India, Marcos is expected to sign pacts in such fields as law, culture and technology, according to Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Evangeline Ong Jimenez-Ducrocq, but all eyes will be on any potential defense agreements. The Philippines has previously purchased BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles from India, a weapon which has a top speed of 3,450 kilometers (2,140 miles) per hour. India, which has engaged in border clashes with China in the Himalayas, is a member of the so-called Quad, a group that includes fellow democracies the United States, Japan and Australia. Beijing has repeatedly alleged that the four-way partnership, first conceived by late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, was created as a way of containing China.
