Philippines

 MANILA, June 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A US navy destroyer sunk during World War II has been found nearly 7,000 metres (23,000 feet) below sea level off the Philippines, making it the world’s deepest shipwreck ever located, an American exploration team said.
 
  The USS Samuel B Roberts went down during a battle off the central island of Samar on Oct 25, 1944 as US forces fought to liberate the Philippines — then a US colony — from Japanese occupation.
 

DAVAO CITY, the Philippines, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Sara Duterte-Carpio was sworn into office as the 15th vice president of the Philippines on Sunday in her hometown in Davao City in the southern Philippines.

Wearing an emerald green chiffon Filipiniana gown, Duterte-Carpio took her oath of office as her mother, Elizabeth, and her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, standing next to her, watched.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Two long-wanted Abu Sayyaf militant commanders accused of beheading two kidnapped Canadian tourists and a German in the southern Philippines have surrendered to authorities, officials said Friday.

Almujer Yadah and Bensito Quitino gave themselves up to military officials in Jolo town in southern Sulu province and surrendered their assault rifles, Sulu military commander Maj. Gen. Ignatius Patrimonio and other security officials said. The officials did not provide details of how and when the surrenders were arranged.

MANILA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- A ferry with 124 passengers and 10 crew members on board caught fire on Monday while traveling to a town in Quezon province on the main Luzon island, leaving at least seven dead, a spokesperson for the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.

Commodore Armand Balilo said the vessel Mercraft 2 left at 5:00 a.m. local time in Polillo, an island town in the province, and was heading to a port of Real town when it caught fire around 6:30 a.m. local time approximately 900 meters from the port.

MANILA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- A fire raced through a slum near the main port in the Philippine capital on Thursday night, threatening many vessels docked in the area, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.

PCG spokesperson Commodore Armando Balilo said the fire broke out before 8 p.m. local time in the crowded Baseco slum along the rim of Manila Bay and continued to rage for nearly two hours.

"Many boats could not leave the area due to low tide," Balilo told reporters. He posted videos and pictures of the fire engulfing dozens of shanties along the river on social media.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Allies of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the presumptive next president of the Philippines, appear set to dominate both chambers of Congress, further alarming activists after the late dictator son’s apparent election victory restored his family to the seat of power.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — After most of his key rivals conceded defeat, presumptive Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the namesake son of an ousted dictator, faced early calls Wednesday to ensure respect for human rights, the rule of law and democracy.

Marcos Jr. garnered more than 31 million votes in an unofficial vote count from Monday’s polls in what’s projected to be one of the strongest mandates for a Philippine president in decades. His vice-presidential running mate, Sara Duterte, appeared to have also won by a landslide.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s apparent landslide victory in the Philippine presidential election is giving rise to immediate concerns about a further erosion of democracy in the region, and could complicate American efforts to blunt growing Chinese influence and power in the Pacific.

Marcos, the son and namesake of longtime dictator Ferdinand Marcos, captured more than 30.8 million votes in Monday’s election according to an unofficial count, more than double those of his closest challenger.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Filipinos stood in long lines to choose a new president Monday, with the son of an ousted dictator and a champion of human rights the top contenders in a tenuous moment in a deeply divided Asian democracy.

MANILA, May 6 (Reuters) - Street vendor Nellie Baraquio will cast a ballot in a presidential election in the Philippines for the first time on Monday, and the campaign sticker on her worn-out ice box leaves little doubt about who is getting her vote.

The 38-year-old believes the red-shirted man smiling in the sticker, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, is the best bet to lead her nation, despite his late father and namesake having presided over what critics say was the darkest chapter in the country's recent history.