Challenging Duterte: Maria Ressa and the Philippine Media
With her sharp mind, unflinching attitude and acerbic humor, journalist and businesswoman Maria Ressa has built a news brand in the Philippines that is at the center of a struggle for the future of free expression in that country. Not one to back down from a fight, Ressa is just the sort of person to […]
Xi’s visit to lift China-Philippines ties: Duterte
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the Philippines is expected to bring China-Philippines relations “a knot higher” and comprehensively deepen bilateral cooperation in each field, said Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. The Philippine President made the remarks during a recent joint interview with Chinese media in the Philippines. Duterte said that China-Philippines ties once touched a low […]
Rodrigo Duterte: The ‘Moderately Successful’ Populist
On a recent visit to Israel, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s confounding ability to surprise was on full display. Visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel in early September, he laid a wreath and said he could not imagine a country obeying an insane leader like Hitler: “I could not ever fathom the spectacle of […]
[Book Review] President Duterte: How and Why?
Easy answers came fast on the heels of his May 2016 election, most putting him down for a fool or a tool. Two new books take a closer look at both Rodrigo Duterte the man and the initial phase of his presidency. In A Duterte Reader, sociologist Nicole Curato gathered 19 Filipino scholars, journalists and […]
Interview with Philippines’ beloved reporter, Ramon Tulfo
Ramon Tulfo (70) is one of the most well-known and respected journalists in the Philippines. He was the first of four children born to his independence-fighter father and Japanese mother. Tulfo currently works with renowned media outlet The Inquirer as a columnist and runs the regular radio channel ‘DWIZ 882 AM’. Inside Tulfo’s office, one […]
Killing for a drug-free nation?
“I have been demonized”—the words of President Duterte on 25 October on the international accusation that his “War on Drugs” is a grave human rights violation. He continued in his statement, “I will assure you upon my oath as a lawyer and before God that some are true, some are not. And the extrajudicial tag […]
US tells Philippines: We are still your ally
A senior US diplomat said on Monday that Washington supported Manila’s blossoming ties with Beijing, but he assured the Southeast Asian nation that Washington remained its trusted ally. Daniel Russel, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said after meeting with Philippine Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay in Manila that Washington welcomes […]
Duterte awaits ‘soft landing’ on first state visit to Beijing
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who arrives in Beijing on Tuesday for his first state visit to China, said he agrees with Beijing’s call for peaceful settlement of the South China Sea issue. Duterte expects a “soft landing” in the dispute over the issue. He will visit China for four days. “I’ll be there to talk […]
Duterte says he will ‘whack’ UN observer in the head
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has blasted the United Nations as “stupid” for criticizing his controversial war on illegal drugs that has claimed over 1,000 lives. Duterte warned the global body not to interfere in the nation’s affairs and reconfirmed his will to continue waging war against drugs and crime when he spoke at the 115th […]
Philippines president calls US ambassador ‘gay’
Hong Dam-young – The Korea Times Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, notorious for using derogatory terms about his political opponents, has called. U.S. ambassador Philip Goldberg a “son of a bitch.” Duterte made the comment while giving a speech to soldiers at Camp Lapu-Lapu in Cebu City on Friday. After recalling that his recent meeting with […]