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South China Morning Post
a day ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Philippines' Marcos Jnr rails against corruption in State of the Nation address
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr delivered his shortest State of the Nation address (Sona) to date on Monday, as he mostly sidestepped foreign policy issues and used the occasion to launch a blistering attack on public infrastructure corruption. During the speech that lasted an hour and 10 minutes, Marcos Jnr made no mention of China and referred to the United States only in passing. The focus on corruption and a lack of insight into external developments suggests a calculated bid by him to bolster his domestic support and avoid stoking tensions with other countries, according to analysts. 'Then as now, our foreign policy remains the same. The Philippines is a friend to all. The Philippines is an enemy to none. That will be our main focus as we, the Philippines, host the Asean summit in 2026.' The president offered no comment on rising maritime tensions in the South China Sea, where the Chinese coastguard and militia vessels have repeatedly confronted Philippine forces in recent months. His only reference to the US came in the context of Manila's 'debt' to Washington for helping in the modernisation of the Philippines' police and military. Vergel Santos, a veteran journalist and former publisher of BusinessWorld, told This Week in Asia that the president's position was clear despite his short speech. 'I think he has made it clear enough he will resist China. And I can somehow understand he skipped the subject because it's evident enough he has chosen to side with the US,' Santos said, noting that American forces now had access to nine military bases across the Philippines.
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Philippines' Marcos Pushes More Social Programs, Jobs After Election Setback
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the recent midterm elections showed the public's discontent over issues ranging from poverty to power cuts, pledging to do more to create jobs and attract investment in the last three years of his single six-year term. 'If only data will be the basis, the economy is doing well. Inflation has slowed down and employment has increased,' Marcos said in his annual State of the Nation address to Congress on Monday. 'But this is irrelevant if Filipinos are suffering.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Confronted by crises, Philippine president delivers state of the nation speech
Philippines Marcos State of the Nation MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is delivering his state of the nation speech while confronting diverse crises midway through his six-year term, including recent deadly storms with more than 120,000 people encamped in emergency shelters, turbulent ties with the vice president and escalating territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea. About 22,000 policemen were deployed Monday to secure the House of Representatives complex in suburban Quezon city in the capital region before Marcos' address to both chambers of Congress, top government and military officials and diplomats. Thousands of protesters staged rallies to highlight a wide range of demands from higher wages due to high inflation to the immediate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte over a raft of alleged crimes. 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 largescale 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 Chin 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 towards that mission.' Last week, U.S. 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. Solve the daily Crossword
Straits Times
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
South Africa's DA party withdraws from national dialogue amid coalition dispute
FILE PHOTO: John Steenhuisen, leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) and Minister of Agriculture of South Africa, arrives at the Cape Town City Hall ahead of the State Of The Nation (SONA) address by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa in Cape Town, South Africa February 6, 2025. REUTERS/Nic Bothma/File Photo JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's Democratic Alliance party has withdrawn from a national dialogue but stopped short of leaving the coalition government after President Cyril Ramaphosa fired one of its deputy ministers, DA leader John Steenhuisen said on Saturday. The national dialogue is a process launched by Ramaphosa to unite the country after last year's election, which saw his African National Congress lose its parliamentary majority for the first time in three decades, forcing it to team up with the DA to form a government. The two parties are far apart ideologically and have clashed repeatedly over the last year, as the DA has accused the ANC of acting against its interests and without proper consultation. Steenhuisen said the DA federal executive had also considered tabling a motion of no confidence against Ramaphosa, but decided against it. However, he said the party was "in the process of losing confidence in his ability to act as a leader not of the ANC, but of the GNU (Government of National Unity)." Ramaphosa sacked deputy trade minister Andrew Whitfield this week over an unauthorised trip to the United States, and said the DA should nominate a replacement. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
28-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
South Africa's DA party withdraws from national dialogue
FILE PHOTO: John Steenhuisen, leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) and Minister of Agriculture of South Africa, arrives at the Cape Town City Hall ahead of the State Of The Nation (SONA) address by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa in Cape Town, South Africa February 6, 2025. REUTERS/Nic Bothma/File Photo
