Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 struck Saturday night off the coast of the southern Philippine island of Mindanao and Philippine authorities issued a tsunami warning.

The quake struck at 10:37 p.m. at a depth of 32 kilometers (20 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said based on the magnitude and location, it expected tsunami waves to hit the southern Philippines and parts of Indonesia, Palau and Malaysia.

MANILA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The Philippines has built a new coast guard station on the contested island of Thitu in the South China Sea, boosting its ability to monitor movements of Chinese vessels and aircraft in the busy disputed waterway.

As tension mounts over territorial claims in the area, the Philippine coast guard had early this year spotted a Chinese navy ship and dozens of militia vessels around the island, one of nine features Manila occupies in the Spratly archipelago.

MANILA, Nov 29 (NNN-PNA) – The Philippine government posted a budget deficit of 34.4 billion pesos (about 621.8 million U.S. dollars) in Oct, 65.27 percent lower than in the same period of 2022, the country’s Bureau of the Treasury said, today.

The total aggregate budget deficit for the 10-month period amounted to 1.018 trillion pesos (about 18.4 billion dollars), down by 8.45 percent year on year, the bureau said.

MANILA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The Philippines is considering resuming membership of the International Criminal Court (ICC) nearly five years after it withdrew over objections to a bid by the court to investigate a bloody anti-narcotics campaign, the president said on Friday.

"There is also a question, should we return under the fold of the ICC, so that’s again under study. So we’ll just keep looking at it and see what our options are," President Ferdinand Marcos Jr told reporters.

MANILA, Nov 22 (NNN-PNA) – The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), today confirmed that 17 Filipino seafarers were among the crew members of a cargo vessel, taken hostage by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

In a television interview, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary, Eduardo de Vega, expressed alarm over the ongoing hostage crisis involving the Filipinos and other nationalities working on the hijacked ship.

“We are alarmed. It is not the first time Filipino seafarers were held hostage,” de Vega said.

MANILA, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The Philippines has approached neighbours such as Malaysia and Vietnam to discuss a separate code of conduct regarding the South China Sea, its president said on Monday, citing limited progress towards striking a broader regional pact with China.

Relations between the two have grown more tense under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who has increasingly complained about China's "aggressive" behaviour while rekindling strong ties with the Philippines' sole treaty ally, the United States.

MANILA, Nov 13 (NNN-PNA) – Four people died, after their car collided with a dump truck, in Olongapo City, north-east of Manila, police said today.

Police said, the accident occurred around 8.00 p.m. local time, last night, while the two vehicles were travelling a curvy road in the city. Pictures posted on social media showed the wrecked car pinned underneath the ten-wheeler truck.

The victims, who suffered severe head and body injuries, were declared dead on arrival at a city hospital.

MANILA, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The Philippines' coast guard said on Saturday it would maintain its regular supply missions to troops stationed on a disputed atoll in the South China Sea even though it expects more Chinese vessels to be sent to the area.

The Philippines regularly sends supplies to a handful of troops living aboard an aging warship that was deliberately run aground on the Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to assert Manila's sovereignty claims over the atoll.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A radio anchor was fatally shot by a man inside his southern Philippine station Sunday in a brazen attack that was witnessed by people watching the program live on Facebook.

The gunman gained entry into the home-based radio station of provincial news broadcaster Juan Jumalon by pretending to be a listener. He then shot him twice during a live morning broadcast in Calamba town in Misamis Occidental province, police said.

MANILA, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The Philippines' National Security Adviser on Saturday rejected talk of a plot to destabilise the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, saying the military and entire security sector were loyal to the commander-in-chief.

"Yes, there were healthy and passionate exchanges (and) debates among some retired or former military officers and even some criticism against certain policies of the current administration, but they are within the bounds of our democratic space," National Security Adviser Eduardo Año said.