At least one person and damaging buildings in the northern Abra province by when a powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake walked out the Philippine island of Luzon on Wednesday, An earthquake shook the earth in Abra north Philippine Island of Luzon at 8:43am. Us geological survey (USGS) measured the preliminary magnitude of 7.1. The base was […]
Philippine
Amnesty urges UN probe of ‘systematic’ Philippine drug war killings
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s narcotics crackdown has become a “systematic” campaign of abuses, Amnesty International alleged on Monday, urging the United Nations to launch a probe into thousands of killings. The drug war is Duterte’s signature initiative and is heavily supported by many Filipinos, however the nightly killings by police have provoked international condemnation. In […]
Bride among 13 killed in Philippine truck accident: police
Thirteen people including a bride-to-be and two children were killed when the truck they were riding on after attending a traditional pre-wedding ceremony rolled over on a mountain road, police said Sunday. The dump truck was carrying 53 passengers in eastern Camarines Sur province on Saturday and was going down the highway when it lost […]
Dutch hostage held by Filipino militants killed in gubattle
Philippine military officials say a long-held Dutch hostage has been shot and killed by his Abu Sayyaf captors when he tried to escape during a gunbattle in southern jungles. Military commander Brig. Gen. Divino Pabayo Jr. says Dutch birdwatcher Ewold Horn was fatally shot on Friday while trying to escape during a gunbattle between the […]
New quake strikes as Philippines hunts for survivors
The 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck northwest of Manila on Monday Philippine rescuers were scrambling Tuesday to reach some two dozen people feared buried under a building near Manila that collapsed a day earlier in a strong earthquake, as a powerful new tremor hit the nation. The US Geological Survey put the fresh quake on the […]
Philippine news site asks top court to scrap Duterte’s ban on its reporters
A news website bitterly opposed by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn a ban on coverage of his events, calling it an unconstitutional assault on the freedom of press. Rappler, a media startup known for its tough investigative reporting of one of Asia’s most volatile leaders, is the subject […]
Pompeo says Iran tied to Al-Qaeda, declines to say if war legal
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday accused Iran of ties to Al-Qaeda and declined to say whether the Trump administration had legal authority to invade the country. Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Pompeo hedged on whether the authorization of force by the US Congress days after the September 11, 2001 attacks […]
First transgender officer joins Philippine army reserves
The Philippine military has welcomed its first transgender officer, the defence department said Thursday, swearing in a prominent member of Congress as a reservist. Geraldine Roman, 50, who became the Catholic-majority nation’s first transgender person elected to Congress in 2016, took her oath on Wednesday. “That indeed makes her the first transgender officer in the […]
Life begins returning to war-torn Philippine city
Residents of a southern Philippine city where Islamic State supporters waged a brutal five-month battle began returning home on Tuesday, but gunfire greeted them as soldiers scoured devastated neighbourhoods for remaining militants. Defence chiefs announced on Monday that the fighting, which claimed more than 1,100 lives and left the eastern half of Marawi in ruins, […]
Mattis commends Philippine’s military for Marawi liberation
US Defence Secretary James Mattis on Monday praised the Philippines for its successes in battling Islamic State supporters, as he began an Asian trip aimed at reaffirming American support for regional allies. Mattis echoed Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement last week that Filipino forces had “liberated” the southern city of Marawi, after five months of […]