When Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte summoned his security chiefs to an urgent meeting one Sunday night last month, his mind was already made up. His military and law enforcement heads had no idea what was coming: a suspension of the police force’s leading role in his signature campaign, a merciless war on illegal drugs. There … Read more
The President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte said he is scrapping peace talks with communist rebels due to take place later this month. Mr Duterte said he is abandoning discussions in Norway with the New People’s Army (NPA) and is instructing his negotiators to return home. He said that demands by communist rebels for the … Read more
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to throw corrupt officials from helicopters mid-air, saying he has done it before. “If you are corrupt, I will fetch you using a helicopter to Manila and I will throw you out,” said Mr Duterte, who is waging war on corruption and drugs. It’s the latest claim by the … Read more
Edgar Matobato’s days are spent — for now, at least — in a verdant, bucolic compound some way outside Manila. Chickens, ubiquitous in the rural Philippines, scratch in the dirt and there is a sizable supply of food stacked up on the porch of one of the small structures that make up the compound. It’s … Read more
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte denied throwing a person off a helicopter in an interview with CNN Philippines Thursday, contradicting a statement he made on live television earlier this week. “We had no helicopter. We don’t use that,” he said. He described the incident as “just the creative imagination of this Tulfo.” Duterte did not clarify … Read more
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte derided U. S. ambassadors as “spies” on Thursday, responding to a media report of an alleged American plot to destabilize his government, a job he said some envoys were appointed solely to do. The volatile former mayor said though had received no intelligence reports of any U. S. plan to undermine … Read more
The Philippine President vowed Friday to keep up his controversial campaign against drugs as long as he remains in office. Rodrigo Duterte was met with a roar of approval and chants of “Duterte, Duterte” when he took to the stage in Singapore to address members of the Filipino community. He said he would not stop … Read more
A 6-year-old Manila boy killed in his sleep is among the latest victims in the ongoing violence against suspected drug criminals in the Philippines. “There was a knock on the door,” said Elizabeth Navarro, who is pregnant and already a mother of five at 29. “My husband said who’s that? Then I heard two gunshots.” … Read more
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte should be impeached after he admitted to personally killing drug suspects, one of his top critics told CNN. On Monday, Duterte said that when mayor of the southern city of Davao, he would patrol the streets “looking for an encounter so I could kill.” Since taking power in June, Duterte has … Read more
Controversial Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has admitted killing suspected criminals during his time as mayor of Davao City. “In Davao, I used to do it personally. Just to show the guys that, if I can do it, why can’t you?” Duterte said. “And (I’d) go around Davao with a motorcycle, with a big bike around … Read more
China’s success at turning around relations with the Philippines under its new president Rodrigo Duterte show the “conspiracies” of certain countries to stir up trouble in the South China Sea have been defeated, China’s foreign minister said on Saturday. In July, the Philippines won a case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague … Read more
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte denounced what he called “bullsh*t” Western threats to seek his indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his role in a bloody crackdown on drug dealers. In a speech on Monday, Duterte – who has been accused of ordering extrajudicial killings in his anti-narcotics campaign since taking office in June … Read more
Controversial Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has moved to bury the hatchet with the United States after Donald Trump’s election to the White House. “I would like to congratulate President Trump. Long live!” Duterte said to applause on Wednesday. “Now we’re here, I don’t want to … fight because Trump is already there.” The traditional alliance … Read more
Duterte aligns Philippines with China, says U. S. has lost Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced his “separation” from the United States on Thursday, declaring he had realigned with China as the two agreed to resolve their South China Sea dispute through talks. Duterte made his comments in Beijing, where he is visiting with at least … Read more
A police van has rammed protesters in the Philippines capital Manila as a demonstration outside the US embassy turned violent. Footage showed protesters surrounding the van and hitting it with batons taken from police. The vehicle then drives into the crowd several times, injuring a number of people. Hundreds had met to demand the US … Read more
play videoThree student activists were run over by the police van and taken to hospital A police van in the Philippines rammed left-wing protesters and ran over some of them at an anti-US rally outside the US embassy in Manila on Wednesday. Protest leader Renato Reyes said at least three student activists were run over … Read more
US President Barack Obama can “go to hell” over his criticism of the Philippines brutal war against drugs, President Rodrigo Duterte says. The European Union – another critic – “better choose purgatory, hell is filled up”, Mr Duterte said. The remarks came as the US and the Philippines began joint military exercises. The US said … Read more
Manny Pacquiao has admitted he took “all kinds of drugs” – but supports a crackdown on dealers which has led to more than 3,000 deaths in the Philippines. The boxing star, who was elected as a senator in May, said he backed president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs and claimed that the leader was chosen … Read more
President Rodrigo Duterte has announced that the military exercises between the Philippines and the United States scheduled in October will be the last under his administration. Duterte made the announcement on Wednesday during his official visit to Vietnam, signaling a shift away from an alliance that is one of the oldest in Asia. “You [US] … Read more
Two-hundred bullets fired into an official. A corpse-eating crocodile. A billionaire killed in a lover’s tiff. They’re just some of the shocking allegations made by self-professed hitman Edgar Matobato before a Senate Inquiry into extrajudicial killings in the Philippines Thursday. Matabato claims he was part of a death squad run on the orders of President … Read more