Latest news with #MarcosJnr
South China Morning Post
07-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Calls for sanctions as Philippine probe accuses Chinese embassy of influence campaign
A Philippine Senate probe has accused the Chinese embassy in Manila of funding a covert online influence campaign aimed at discrediting the country's military and critics of Beijing ahead of midterm elections – prompting calls for diplomatic sanctions and potential criminal prosecution. Advertisement If the allegations prove to be true, the operation – said to involve hundreds of fake social media accounts – could lead to the expulsion of embassy personnel and legal action under a rarely invoked 84-year-old law targeting subversive acts during peacetime, analysts have warned. The Chinese embassy and its local partner, Infinitus Marketing Solutions, have strongly denied the accusations. In a Senate hearing on Monday, however, the company's CEO confirmed receiving funds from the embassy, while maintaining there was no connection to a disinformation campaign. Paul Li, the Chinese national who heads Infinitus, told lawmakers a cheque of 930,000 pesos (US$16,780) from the embassy – presented as evidence they had been hired to operate the disinformation campaign during a previous hearing – was in fact payment for organising a June 2023 event attended by President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr. Li confirmed 'we are the PR company for the Chinese embassy' during his testimony before the Senate's Special Committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zones, chaired by Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino. Advertisement However, he denied the claims that his firm managed a network of 330 fictitious accounts on Facebook and X allegedly used to manipulate public sentiment.
South China Morning Post
25-02-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Philippine army stays silent amid calls for Marcos Jnr's ouster, as Edsa anniversary passes
Ahead of Tuesday's 39th anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution in the Philippines – which led to the ouster of dictator Ferdinand Marcos Snr – calls to unseat his son, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr , have been growing bolder. Advertisement However, military insiders told This Week in Asia that they remain focused on national security and were unlikely to heed demands for intervention despite the political turmoil. On Saturday, former president Rodrigo Duterte warned during a political rally in Cebu City that Marcos Jnr was 'veering towards dictatorship' and claimed his successor intended to stay in power beyond his 2028 presidential term. 'What he's going to do is declare martial law [just like his father],' Duterte claimed. Although Duterte and Marcos Jnr were once political allies, they have become bitter rivals over the past year, with the former president accusing his successor of drug use, without evidence that would stand up in court, and has repeatedly called for his ouster. In November, Duterte urged the military to withdraw their support from Marcos, asking 'How long will you support a drug addict of a president?' Confetti falls during celebrations in Quezon City on February 20 for the 39th anniversary of the near-bloodless coup popularly known as 'People Power' revolution that ousted the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Photo: AP Previous Edsa commemorations have recognised the pivotal role that the military played in Marcos Snr's removal from office. However, this year's commemoration saw no high-ranking attendees from the Armed Forces of the Philippines or the Department of National Defence.
South China Morning Post
14-02-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Why South China Sea row is an election hot-button issue for the Philippines
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr's playing of the China card this week urging a sweeping victory for his Senate allies marks the first time a political leader in the country is using a foreign policy issue to win votes. In front of an adoring crowd during the kick-off rally of his Bagong Pilipinas (New Philippines) party in his hometown province of Ilocos Norte on Tuesday, Marcos Jnr said in Tagalog: 'Will we consent to return to that period when our leaders want us to become a province of China?' It was a veiled allusion to a joke made by former president Rodrigo Duterte in 2018 when he told a roomful of ethnic Chinese businessmen with the Chinese envoy to Manila present: 'Would you like to just make the Philippines a province of China, like Fujian? Then we will no longer have a problem. Everything will be free.' During Tuesday's campaign speech, Marcos Jnr assured the crowd that none of his senatorial candidates 'are rooting for China and expressing delight when our coastguard is being bombarded', referring to multiple clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the disputed South China Sea. Amid cheers and applause, he urged voters to 'let us deliver a 12-0 result for the Senate' in the May midterm elections. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr (centre) reacts during a rally in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, about 500km north of Manila, on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE Twelve of the 24 Senate seats are up for grabs, along with 18,200 local executive positions – from provincial governor down to city and town mayors, along with all seats in local legislative councils.
South China Morning Post
08-02-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Has Philippine President Marcos outplayed the Dutertes in impeachment fight?
Published: 12:00pm, 8 Feb 2025 The impeachment of Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio by more than two-thirds of the Philippine House of Representatives – including lawmakers from her family's southern stronghold of Mindanao – has signalled to analysts that President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr and his allies have 'outmanoeuvred' the Duterte dynasty in its own backyard. Out of the 60 congressmen representing the southern Philippines , 41 have signed the Articles of Impeachment that were sent to the Senate on Wednesday, according to the Philippine Centre for Investigative Journalism. One signatory is from the Davao region, where the vice-president's father, former president Rodrigo Duterte , reigned supreme for more than three decades. 'It's political jujitsu,' said historian Manolo Quezon, a former palace insider under presidents Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III. In the 2022 elections, Marcos Jnr and Duterte-Carpio campaigned together as a unified ticket and secured landslide victories. However, the alliance between them and their politically powerful families has transformed into a bitter public feud over the last year, with the vice-president even making public threats of assassination . 02:02 Philippine VP Sara Duterte to fight impeachment case in escalating clash with Marcos Jnr Philippine VP Sara Duterte to fight impeachment case in escalating clash with Marcos Jnr Despite that, Marcos Jnr had consistently described the effort to impeach the vice-president as an unnecessary government distraction before Wednesday's vote, describing it as a 'storm in a teacup' amid growing calls among his allies to oust her from office.
South China Morning Post
31-01-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Philippine's Marcos Jnr offers to return US Typhon missiles if China ends ‘aggressive' acts
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has publicly offered to remove the US-made Typhon missile system from his country if China ceases its 'aggressive and coercive behaviour' in the South China Sea Advertisement Security experts view the proposal as a rhetorical challenge rather than a genuine attempt at negotiation, given the unlikelihood of Beijing curbing its claims over the disputed waterway. Marcos Jnr made his pledge on Thursday during the inauguration of an airport runway in Cebu, linking China's numerous objections to the Typhon's presence in the Philippines to Beijing's own missile arsenal. 'I don't understand their comments on the Typhon missile system. We don't make any comments on their missile systems and their missile systems are a thousand times more powerful than what we have,' Marcos Jnr said. China has yet to respond to the president's remarks, but it has repeatedly demanded the Typhon's removal since the land-based system, known formally as the Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile launcher, was delivered to the Philippines in April by US forces for use in joint drills. American and Filipino soldiers fire an ATMOS 155mm Howitzer during as part of US-Philippines army-to-army joint drills on April 26, 2024, in Laur, Nueva Ecija province, Philippines. Photo: Jeoffrey Maitem The launcher has remained in the country since then and the Philippines has announced plans to acquire a Typhon system of its own.
