Tag - philippines

 
 

PHILIPPINES

Islamic State graffiti in a house in the battle-torn city of Marawi, Philippines, in April 2018
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2025
Islamic state isn’t back in Asia, but its ideas still endure
The question is not whether Islamic State is “back” in Asia. It isn’t, but its ideology remains, as the tragedy in Bondi shows.
Japan’s JS Hyuga helicopter destroyer leads the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Fitzgerald (center-right), the Indian Navy Shivalik-class frigate INS Sahyadri (center-left) and the Royal Australian Navy Anzac-class frigate HMAS Ballarat during the Malabar 2025 naval exercise off Guam last month.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Dec 9, 2025
Japan-India defense in a fragmenting Indo-Pacific
For Tokyo, sustaining India’s participation is strategically vital — not only for Indo-Pacific’s balance-of-power, but also ensuring China-resilient supply chains.
A Filipino soldier fires a Javelin anti-tank weapon system during a live exercise as part of the annual U.S.-Philippines joint military exercises at Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija province, Philippines, in April 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2025
New U.S.-Philippine military task force could evolve into multinational unit
Task Force Philippines will likely become a larger, combined force featuring personnel from countries that have visiting-forces agreements with Manila, such as Japan.
Philippine Navy chief Vice Adm. Jose Ma Ambrosio Ezpeleta speaks during a recent interview with The Japan Times at navy headquarters in Manila.
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2025
Philippines seeks more retired MSDF patrol aircraft, navy chief says
The head of the Philippine Navy has said the service is interested in acquiring an additional five retired TC-90 aircraft from Japan to boost its surveillance capabilities.
The navies of Japan, the U.S. and South Korea take part in a combined anti-submarine exercise in waters off South Korea's Jeju Island in April 2023. The Takaichi administration is looking to strengthen alliances to coordinate responses and mitigate regional threats under a collective deterrence approach.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 26, 2025
The argument for Indo-Pacific ‘collective deterrence’
Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is boosting defense, alliances and collective deterrence to protect Japan, support allies and maintain Indo-Pacific stability.
A statue of former Indonesian President Suharto at a museum dedicated to him in the city of Yogyakarta. Authoritarian nostalgia is rising across Southeast Asia as leaders and societies whitewash past dictatorships. REUTERS
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2025
How amnesia is turning Asia’s tyrants into heroes
Experts warn that forgetting the realities of autocratic rule threatens democratic institutions, transparency and long-term stability.
China is using threats, diplomatic pressure, economic measures and manufactured media narratives to attack new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and influence Japanese politics.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 20, 2025
Seeking good relations with Xi’s CCP is a fool’s errand
China has a history of favoring Japanese leaders, going back at least to Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka in the 1970s, who are inclined to comply with its “red lines.”
Members of the religious sect Iglesia ni Cristo listen to speeches during an anti-corruption protest at a park in Manila on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 18, 2025
Pressure builds on Marcos as Philippine graft mess forces revamp
The revamp of the president’s Cabinet underscores his determination to press ahead with his corruption crackdown, even as allegations touch his own allies.
Members of religious group Iglesia ni Cristo attend an anti-corruption protest at a park in Manila on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 16, 2025
Megachurch gathers in Manila to protest Philippine corruption
There is mounting pressure on Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s government to act on a corruption scandal related to flood infrastructure funds worth billions of pesos.
Protesters in Makati City, Metro Manila, hold a rally over the Philippines' territorial disputes with China outside the Chinese Consulate in June 2015. ASEAN, despite five of its members claiming parts of the South China Sea, doesn’t back Manila in its standoff with Beijing.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 13, 2025
ASEAN hedges as the South China Sea bubbles over
One would think ASEAN, with five of its members claiming parts of the South China Sea, would support the Philippines’ quest for a peaceful, legal resolution. You’d be wrong.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2025
Descendants in Philippines denied Japanese citizenship
Family courts ruled that the four were not recognized by their Japanese fathers, and therefore rejected their claims.
A resident paddles his boat through floodwaters past inundated houses in Tuguegarao City, the Philippines, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 10, 2025
Typhoon Fung-Wong hits Philippines with high winds and flooding
Fung-Wong was the second deadly typhoon to hit the country in the past week after Kalmaegi slammed into the central Philippines, and left more than 200 dead.
HIMAWARI satellite imagery shows super typhoon Fung-wong as it approaches the Philippines on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 9, 2025
Philippines evacuates 100,000 people as Fung-wong intensifies into super typhoon
With sustained winds of 185 kph (115 mph) and gusts of up to 230 kph, the super typhoon known locally as Uwan is forecast to make landfall Sunday night at the earliest.
A worker cleans broken glass at a hotel close to Quy Nhon beach as Typhoon Kalmaegi makes landfall in Gia Lai province in central Vietnam Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 7, 2025
Typhoon Kalmaegi brings destruction to Vietnam as Philippines death toll rises
The storm hit central Vietnam late on Thursday, uprooting trees, damaging homes and triggering power outages, before weakening as it moved inland.
A resident walks along damaged houses in the aftermath of Typhoon Kalmaegi in Talisay, in the province of Cebu on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 5, 2025
Kalmaegi death toll climbs to 66 as Philippine survivors confront destruction
Residents in the hardest-hit province of Cebu are confronting the devastation the typhoon has left behind: homes reduced to rubble, debris-filled streets and lives upended.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Canadian defense chief David McGuinty hold a signed visiting forces agreement after their bilateral meeting in Manila on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 3, 2025
Philippines inks military pact with Canada in bid to deter China
The pact is the latest struck by Manila as it builds a coalition of allies to deter what it sees as Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.
Philippine and Australian troops fire an M777 howitzer during live fire exercises as part of joint military drills in Laur, Nueva Ecija, the Philippines, in August.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Nov 2, 2025
A narrow Pacific waterway at heart of U.S. plans to choke China’s vast navy
Batanes province in the Philippines is on the front line of the great power competition between the United States and China.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth leaves after attending a bilateral meeting between Malaysia and the United States in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 1, 2025
Pentagon chief seeks to boost U.S. ties with flurry of talks in Asia 
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held talks on Friday with counterparts from China and India, among a series of face-to-face meetings on the sidelines of a regional summit.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets with Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim at the opening of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 31, 2025
Takaichi shines on the diplomatic stage
Takaichi got especially high marks for her masterful handling of U.S. President Donald Trump. Channeling her mentor, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi takes a group photo with other leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations during the ASEAN-Japan summit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 27, 2025
Takaichi makes diplomatic debut with ASEAN maritime security and AI pledge
New Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledged to strengthen cooperation on maritime security, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

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