Author: Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews

March 28, 2025

US to send advanced military hardware to Philippines

MANILA – The United States plans to deploy advanced military equipment to the Philippines to strengthen its deterrence against threats, officials from both countries said, as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made his first official visit to Manila.
Hegseth met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Friday, reiterating that Washington’s defense commitment to its longtime ally in Southeast Asia would remain strong under the second Trump administration.
“Deterrence is necessary around the world, but specifically in this region, in your country, considering the threats from the communist Chinese, and that friends need to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to deter conflict,” the U.S. defense chief told Marcos, according to an official transcript.
The Philippines is embroiled in tensions with China over contending territorial claims in the South China Sea. Standoffs have occurred lately in waters where Chinese coast guard ships often encroach into the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
“Your visit to the region, especially the fact that you have come to the Philippines as your first stop is a very strong indication (and) sends a very strong message of the commitment of both our countries to continue to work together to maintain the peace in the Indo-Pacific region within the South China Sea,” Marcos told Hegseth during their meeting at the presidential Malacañang Palace.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Malacañang Palace in Manila, March 28, 2025.
(Basilio Sepe/Reuters)
The United States would implement some new initiatives including “deploying more advanced U.S. capabilities in the Philippines” – among them, a mobile and land-based anti-ship missile launcher and unmanned surface vessels, according to a joint statement issued after Teodoro and Hegseth met.
Hegseth’s visit to Manila was the first by a top official from the new Trump administration.
U.S. President Donald Trump is “very committed” to the “ironclad” defense alliance between Manila and Washington, Hegseth said.
“What we’re dealing with right now is many years of deferred maintenance, of weakness that we have to reestablish strength and deterrence in multiple places around the globe. But pertinently today, for this region,” Hegseth said.
“We don’t seek intervention. President Trump has made it clear we don’t seek war …. We don’t seek to use chess pieces and move them around the board. All we seek is peace. All we seek is freedom and cooperation, and mutual benefit,” he added, according to a transcript from the Pentagon.
Hegseth arrived in Manila on Thursday night after revelations that he and other senior U.S. national security officials had discussed plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen on the messaging app Signal with a journalist present.
Critics are calling it a flagrant violation of information security protocols and have called on Hegseth and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz to resign.
Filipino activists burn a mock American flag in front of the United States Embassy in Manila, as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the Philippine capital, March 28, 2025.
(Noel Celis/Reuters)
After the American and Filipino defense chiefs met, China’s foreign ministry warned that the Philippines should not start a conflict in the South China Sea with the support of the U.S.
“Any cooperation between the United States and the Philippines should not be directed against a third party or harm the interests of a third party, and it should not exaggerate the so-called threats, provoke confrontation and aggravate tensions in the region,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a press briefing.
“The U.S. side should abandon its Cold War mentality, stop instigating ideological confrontation, stop provoking trouble in the South China Sea and sowing discord in the region, and refrain from being an instigator in the South China Sea,” he said.
Anti-ship missile launcher
Among the initiatives that Manila and Washington agreed to, the U.S. would deploy the land-based anti-ship missile launcher – the so-called Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) as part of the joint large-scale Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises happening next month in the Philippines.
American Special Operations Forces would also train together with Filipino marines in the Batanes chain, the Philippines’ northernmost islands that directly face Taiwan, the joint statement said.
“These efforts will accelerate the defense partnership and ensure that the alliance is postured to address the most consequential challenges in the Indo-Pacific region,” Hegseth and Teodoro said.
BenarNews is an online news outlet affiliated with Radio Free Asia.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.
March 25, 2025

Pentagon chief Hegseth heads to Philippines amid South China Sea tensions

MANILA — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to visit the Philippines this week, the first trip by a top official from the new Trump administration to a long-time American defense ally in Southeast Asia.
He is scheduled to arrive on Friday amid heightened territorial tensions in the South China Sea between Manila and Beijing over Chinese coast guard encroachments in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
In Manila, Hegseth is to meet with his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro Jr., to discuss their nations’ long-standing defense alliance.
“In a few days, my counterpart, the honorable Pete Hegseth, secretary of defense of the United States of America, will be paying a visit to the president and to myself where we will discuss ways to enhance our bilateral and trilateral and squad partnership,” Teodoro told reporters on Monday.
Apart from its 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with Washington, the Philippines has a year-old trilateral defense pact with the United States and Japan. It is also a member of the “Squad,” an informal grouping of countries including the U.S., Australia, and Japan that have staged joint maritime activities in the South China Sea since last year.
After a two-day stay in the Philippines, Hegseth will go to Japan to attend the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima and meet with Japanese officials.
The American defense chief’s first official visit to Asia comes on the heels of controversy over his and other senior U.S. government officials discussing top-secret plans for a military operation on an encrypted messaging app with a journalist present. Critics are calling it a flagrant violation of information security protocols.
Hegseth, who was in Hawaii on Tuesday meeting officials of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, will stop in Guam before traveling on to Manila.
In the Philippine capital, Hegseth “will advance security objectives with Philippine leaders and meet with U.S. and Philippine forces,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement last week.
Reacting to Hegseth’s visit, Beijing warned that any security agreement involving Manila and other nations “should not target any third party” or escalate regional tensions.
“Facts have repeatedly proven that nothing good could come out of opening the door to a predator. Those who willingly serve as chess pieces will be deserted in the end,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday.
“Our message to some in the Philippines: [S]top serving as other countries’ mouthpiece and no more stunt[s] for personal political agenda[s].”
Questions about American commitment
Asia-Pacific defense experts have been keeping an eye on the Trump administration’s stances on geopolitical developments in Europe, and what this could mean to Manila in terms of Washington’s support.
However, since President Donald Trump took office in January, both U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Hegseth have separately issued statements to assure Manila that Washington’s commitment to the defense of Philippine territorial waters remains “ironclad.”
Hegseth’s visit to Manila is a good opportunity to “reinforce these commitments amid doubts in its security policies,” according to Filipino security and geopolitical analyst Sherwin Ona.
“For the Philippines, it is crucial to get Washington’s renewed commitment and support for its armed forces modernization program,” Ona, who teaches at De La Salle University in Manila, told BenarNews. “The U.S. also plays a vital role in strengthening mini-lateral security arrangements.”
The Trump administration has begun holding talks with Moscow and Kyiv aimed at ending the Ukraine war.
“With the shift in U.S. policy in Europe, I think allies in the Indo-Pacific are anxious to hear the secretary’s view,” Ona said. “For Manila, how does this translate to actual assistance and presence in the SCS [South China Sea], Taiwan and the region.”
Two helicopters fly over U.S. troops during live-fire joint military exercises between the Philippines and the United States, in Zambales province, Philippines, April 26, 2023.
(Jason Gutierrez/BenarNews)
For geopolitical analyst Julio Amador III, Hegseth’s trip is a “good sign” showing that the new Trump administration is giving priority to America’s close ally in Southeast Asia.
Amador noted that President Trump had a “history” of supporting the alliance between the two nations. It dates back to 1951 when both sides signed the Mutual Defense Treaty, which calls on the two allies to support each other in times of war.
“Trump 2.0 is a welcome development for the Philippines for two reasons,” he said. “First, there is a sense of familiarity as the Philippines already has experience managing relations positively with the previous Trump administration.”
Amador also said that many of those in the Trump 2.0 cabinet were “hawkish on China” in disposition. The “deterrence umbrella against China is all expected to increase in intensity and volume,” Amador said. This includes the joint military drills that are annually carried out between the two nations.
Hegseth will arrive in the Philippines as Manila and Washington prepare for their annual large-scale military exercises here next month.
The Balikatan, or shoulder-to-shoulder, Exercise, which will kick off on April 21 and last until May 9, will feature a joint sail between the allies and Japan.
The U.S. Mid-Range Capability (MRC) Launcher arrives for deployment in Northern Luzon during the Salaknib drills involving Philippine and U.S. troops, April 8, 2024.
(Capt. Ryan DeBooy/U.S. Army)
There will also be live-fire exercises in the north, as well as an amphibious landing drill in the Batanes archipelago to defend it against imaginary invaders. Facing Taiwan, Batanes is the Philippines’ northernmost group of islands.
This week, the United States and the Philippine armies launched their own exercises, called Sabak. About 2,000 U.S. Army Pacific personnel joined their 3,000 Philippine Army counterparts in various drills designed to showcase their commitment to “safeguarding the Philippines’ territorial integrity.”
Second Typhon system
Meanwhile, Filipino military officials welcomed news that the U.S. was sending a second Typhon mid-range missile system to the Asia-Pacific region.
While exact details have yet to be released, U.S.-based Defense News said that the U.S. Army’s 3rd Multidomain Task Force was “readying its Typhon battery for deployment in the Pacific theater.”
In April 2024, the missile system was brought to the Philippines as part of joint military exercises with the United States.
It was the first time the U.S. had deployed the mid-range system in the Asia-Pacific region – a move that angered rival superpower China.
Beijing said the move “gravely threatens regional countries’ security, incites geopolitical confrontation and arouses high vigilance and concerns of countries in the region.”
BenarNews is an online news organization affiliated with Radio Free Asia.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.
March 11, 2025

Drug war architect Rodrigo Duterte arrested on International Criminal Court warrant

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine police detained former president Rodrigo Duterte at Manila airport on Tuesday after he arrived from Hong Kong, acting on an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.
Duterte, 79, arrived with his entourage aboard a Cathay Pacific flight and was served the warrant. He went voluntarily with the police, accompanied by his aides.
“Upon his arrival, the prosecutor general served the ICC notification for an arrest warrant against the former president for crimes against humanity,” the presidential palace said in a statement. “He is currently in the custody of Philippine authorities,” the palace said, adding that the officers who arrested Duterte were wearing body cameras.
A government doctor examined Duterte, who was seen walking with a cane, and said the former president was in good health.
He faces the charge of “the crime against humanity of murder” at the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court, or ICC, for a crackdown on addicts and dealers that he launched after becoming president in 2016 in which thousands of people were killed.
Duterte appeared before the Senate and the House of Representatives in October and November, respectively, where he defended his administration’s war on drugs that he said was meant to protect the youth.
Duterte has never denied his heavy-handed approach to crime but he did deny ordering police to kill suspects. He insisted that his approach was necessary to rid the Southeast Asian country of crime.
Police said more than 6,000 drug dealers and users were killed in shoot-outs as they resisted arrest. Rights groups more than 10,000 people were killed and that many of them were summarily executed.
At the House hearing, he dared the ICC to once and for all subject him to an investigation.
“I am asking the ICC to hurry up and if possible, if they can come here and start the investigation tomorrow,” Duterte said. “This issue has been left hanging for so many years. I might die even before they investigate me. That’s why I am asking the ICC, through you, to come here.”
On Tuesday, the former president tried to reason with arresting officers, asking them “What is the law and what is the crime that I committed?”
“I was apparently brought here not of my own volition, and somebody else’s. You have to answer now for that deprivation of liberty,” he said, according to a clip by GMA News television that showed him sitting down at the airport lounge and talking to the arresting officers.
The Philippines under Duterte withdrew from the ICC in 2019.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had earlier blocked tjhe ICC in the Philippines, but subsequently changed his mind after Duterte’s statement. Marcos insisted that the country’s justice system was working perfectly well.
Duterte’s lawyer, Salvador Panelo, charged that the police did not allow him to meet with his client. “It’s unlawful arrest,” he stressed. “He was deprived of legal representation at the time of his arrest.”
Panelo reiterated that because the Philippines had withdrawn from the ICC, the country was no longer under its jurisdiction.
Former justice secretary Leila de Lima, whom Duterte’s government jailed on false drug-related charges, welcomed the arrest of the former president at long last.
“The arrest of Rodrigo Duterte is the beginning of a much-need reckoning,” de Lima told Radio Free Asia affiliate BenarNews, minutes after Duterte was arrested. “This arrest should not only signal the end of impunity but ignite a larger movement for justice, transparency and the restoration of human rights.”
De Lima, who survived a hostage taking incident while in detention, stressed that the arrest “really had to happen.”
“The victims, the families of the thousands killed under Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs have been crying out for justice and they really looked at the ICC as their best hope because they feel, rightly so, that they could not really get a speedy justice from the local or domestic authorities,” she stressed.
She said the ICC had been quietly doing its job, and that Duterte’s arrest was expected by the rights community. “That is one of the most significant developments in current times,” she said, of the ICC arrest warrant.
The arrest, De Lima said, would “have a lot of impact on the political climate in this country.” She said that Marcos’ hands were tied by the political alliance he had made with the Duterte family at first. “
“But when the unity broke up, we could see the gradual softening of this administration’s position,” she stressed. “So politically, this is an ace on the part of Mr. Marcos (because) the issuance of the warrant of arrest was the best way of getting rid of Mr. Duterte (since) there have been reports of destabilization efforts attributed to forces within the (police) and the military still loyal to the former president.”
Bryony Lau, deputy director for the Human Rights Watch in Asia, said the arrest was a “critical step” towards accountability in the Southeast Asian nation.
“His arrest could bring victims and their families closer to justice and send the clear message that no one is above the law,” Lau said in a statement. “The Marcos government should swiftly surrender him to the ICC.”
Mark Navales and Jeoffrey Maitem contributed reporting from Davao City, and Gerard Carreon from Manila.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.
March 4, 2025

Philippines accuses Chinese state outlet of ‘deceptive messaging’ on disputed shoal

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine authorities accused a Chinese government-owned broadcaster of deceptive messaging and propaganda after it reported that a Philippine ship had deliberately engaged in acts to pollute South China Sea waters.
China Global Television Network, or CGTN, released a video Saturday showing smoke emanating from the BRP Sierra Madre at the contested Second Thomas Shoal. The report said the smoke was caused by trash being burned by Filipino marines stationed aboard the rusting Philippine Navy ship.
“Heavy smoke was seen from an apparent burning activity on a grounded Philippine military vessel on Friday,” CGTN said on Facebook.
“The footage highlights a series of environmentally damaging activities onboard, which could pose a serious threat to the ecosystem at Ren’ai Jiao,” the report said, using the Chinese name for the shoal. To Filipinos, Second Thomas Shoal is known as Ayungin Shoal.
“A report released in July last year suggests that the vessel has gravely damaged the diversity, stability, and sustainability of the coral reef ecosystem in the area,” it added.
Philippine authorities on Tuesday refuted the Chinese state media report that the Filipino crew was allegedly causing pollution, and dismissed the claim as propaganda.
“It’s part of the deceptive messaging of the Chinese Communist Party,” Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, told reporters. Manila refers to South China Sea waters within its exclusive economic zone as the West Philippine Sea.
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The Sierra Madre is a World War II-era ship that Manila ran aground on the shoal in 1999 to mark out the Philippines’ territorial claim and serve as its military outpost in the disputed waters.
The shoal is located within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, or EEZ. Manila runs regular rotation-and-resupply missions to the ship manned by Philippine marines.
Trinidad said Filipino troops had burned “combustible materials” on the BRP Sierra Madre on Feb. 28 as part of a fire drill.
However, strong winds caused the fire to spread. “But they were able to put everything in control,” Trinidad said, referring to the troops aboard the ship.
“There was no damage to the environment, all the men aboard the ship are safe. The exercise was conducted successfully,” Trinidad said. He said fire drills such as this are conducted aboard navy ships at least once every month.
“There was no problem. The men of the ship are always prepared to respond to any eventuality to keep everything under control,” said Trinidad.
Map of disputed shoals in the South China Sea.
(AFP)
“The battlefield is the cognitive domain or the minds of the Filipino people. [It’s] designed to shape the perception of Filipinos. This is also called malign influence,” he said.
At publication time, neither CGTN, China’s foreign ministry or embassy in Manila had responded to the latest statements from Filipino officials.
‘Totally absurd’
Meanwhile, Trinidad said claims circulating on Chinese social media platforms such as Rednote and Weibo, claimed that Palawan once belonged to China and that the Philippines should return it to its rival claimant in the South China Sea.
A post on Chinese social media depicting Palawan island as part of China.
(Douyin)
Palawan, the posts claimed, was once named Zheng He Island, in honor of a Chinese explorer. However, although Zheng He’s existence and travels to Southeast Asia are well documented, there has never been a historical account that he visited the Philippine province.
“Such statements about Palawan are baseless. They are bereft of legal references,” Trinidad said.
“They are beyond common sense. In short, totally absurd.”
Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Año agreed.
“These assertions are outright fabrications intended to distort history, deceive the public and challenge the Philippines’ sovereignty over its lawful and internationally recognized territory,” Año said in a statement.
Año urged Filipinos to remain vigilant against disinformation campaigns and “rely on verified historical and legal sources rather than propaganda designed to advance geopolitical agenda at the expense of truth.”
He said Philippine authorities were tracing who started the post. Año also said that there had never been a “historical record or legal precedent” to support the claim.
“Palawan has always been and will always remain an integral part of the Republic of the Philippines,” Año said in a statement issued Tuesday.
Año said that even if Zheng did in fact visit Palawan, this “does not equate to ownership, just as the voyages of other explorers do not alter the sovereignty of nations today.”
While the “false narratives” did not come from official government sites, Año said they appeared to be part of a “broader effort to undermine Philippine sovereignty and manipulate public perception both in the Philippines and China.”
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.
February 19, 2025

Manila: Chinese helicopter came within 3 meters of Philippine aircraft

MANILA, Philippines — A Chinese military helicopter flew dangerously close to within 3 meters (10 feet) of a Philippine aircraft in the skies above the contested Scarborough Shoal, a Filipino coast guard spokesman said.
A Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, or BFAR, Cessna turboprop plane was conducting a low-altitude tracking flight on Tuesday over the shoal, which is within South China Sea waters of the country’s exclusive economic zone, when the standoff took place. It saw the Chinese helicopter hovering close to or above the Filipino aircraft.
About 90 minutes into the flight, a People’s Liberation Army Navy helicopter “performed dangerous flight maneuvers toward the BFAR aircraft,” coast guard spokesman Jay Tarriela said.
The Chinese helicopter “came as close as three meters [10 feet] to the port side and above the BFAR aircraft,” he said in a statement, adding that the Chinese flight blatantly disregarded international aviation regulations established by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
“This reckless action posed a serious risk to the safety of the pilots and passengers during the MDA flight,” Tarriela said, referring to a maritime domain awareness flight.
“The PCG [Philippine Coast Guard] and BFAR remain committed to asserting our sovereignty, sovereign rights and maritime jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea, despite the aggressive and escalatory actions of China,” he said. Manila refers to South China Sea waters within its EEZ as the West Philippine Sea.
Filipino journalists working for international news agencies were on the BFAR flight, which involved Philippine Coast Guard personnel. During the encounter, a photographer for Agence France-Presse, who was aboard the Philippine plane, took a photo showing a member of the Chinese helicopter crew aiming a camera at the BFAR Cessna (pictured below).
The Associated Press, which had a television cameraman aboard the Filipino aircraft, said the Filipino pilot warned the Chinese helicopter on radio that it was flying too close.
A Chinese Navy member takes photos as his helicopter passes within a few meters of a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources aircraft in the South China Sea, Feb. 18, 2025.
(Jam Sta Rosa/AFP)
Scarborough Shoal, considered a rich fishing ground by Filipino fishermen, is a triangular chain of reefs about 125 nautical miles (232 km) from Luzon, the country’s main island. It has been under Beijing’s de facto control since 2012, but in 2016 an international arbitration tribunal ruled against all of China’s claims to the area.
The ruling also said that the Scarborough Shoal was a rock – not an island – meaning that even if it was entitled to a 12-nautical mile territorial sea, it couldn’t generate its own EEZ. Instead, the shoal is recognized as part of the Philippines’ EEZ and continental shelf.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila said the Philippine aircraft had “intruded into China’s airspace” without permission. It confirmed that the military organized naval and air assets to track, monitor and “drive away” the Philippine aircraft.
“Without the approval of the Chinese government, the Philippine aircraft illegally intruded into Chinese airspace,” military spokesman Tian Junli said, according to Xinhua, China’s state news agency.
Air incident last week
Tuesday’s incident came days after Australia protested what it called an “unsafe and unprofessional interaction” involving a Chinese J-16 fighter aircraft on Feb. 11. An Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon aircraft was patrolling over the Paracel islands in the South China Sea when the incident occurred.
No one was injured in the incident, but Australia criticized the unsafe maneuver by the Chinese fighter jet. China rejected Australia’s complaint, saying that its aircraft flew into Chinese airspace over Xisha Qundao, its name for the Paracels that is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
China has controlled the territory since 1974 when its troops took it from South Vietnam in a battle that killed 74 Vietnamese sailors.
Manila’s foreign department spoke out on behalf of Australia last week, and said all countries must avoid “interference in legitimate activities” in international waters and airspace.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.
February 5, 2025

Philippines, US stage joint air patrol, exercise over South China Sea

MANILA — American and Philippine warplanes flew together in a coordinated patrol and drill above the South China Sea, in the allies’ first joint maneuvers over contested waters since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office, Filipino officials said.
The exercise, where Philippine FA-50 fighter jets flew alongside U.S. B-1 bombers in skies above the waterway, including the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal, drew a rebuke from China. Beijing said it threatened regional peace and stability.
It was the first time B-1 bombers were used for joint maneuvers in the South China Sea, the Philippine military said. The one-day exercise, staged on Tuesday, reflected the strong relations between the two longtime treaty allies, officials said.
Some security experts had said earlier that President Trump might pay less attention to Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, which has been working to shore up international support against China in the South China Sea.
“It’s the first exercise under the current administration of the U.S. government,” Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, told a press briefing Tuesday.
The exercise involved two B-1 bombers attached to the U.S. Pacific Air Forces and three FA-50s from the Philippine Air Force, Col. Maria Consuelo Castillo, the PAF spokeswoman, told the same press briefing.
The B-1 is a more advanced version of the B-52 bomber, which the U.S. Air Force had deployed in previous training missions over the South China Sea, military officials said.
“This exercise is a crucial step in enhancing our interoperability, improving air domain awareness and agile combat employment and supporting our shared bilateral air objectives,” Castillo said.
Filipino officials said the exercise was not a direct response to recent Chinese military and coast guard activities in the South China Sea, where tensions have been high lately between Manila and Beijing.
Scarborough Shoal, which is claimed by both countries, lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone but has been under de facto Chinese control since 2012.
China: ‘On high alert’
In response, Beijing said the joint exercise was a threat to peace and stability in the waterway.
“[T]he Philippines has been colluding with countries outside the region to organize the so-called ‘joint patrols’ to deliberately undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea,” a spokesperson for China’s military said on Tuesday.
Beijing said it had also conducted a routine patrol in the airspace above Scarborough Shoal on Tuesday.
China’s air force units would remain “on high alert to resolutely defend China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” the spokesperson said.
Castillo said the PAF were prepared for radio challenges from China during the staging of the joint exercise, even though it proceeded “regardless of the action of other foreign actors.” As of press time, there were no reports of any such challenges.
However, there were no scenarios where the airplanes simulated dogfights, Castillo said.
“[There’s] no bombing exercise,” she said.
Under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, the Philippines and the United States are compelled to come to each other’s aid in times of external attacks. Under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, Washington said that the scenario included armed attacks in the South China Sea.
China lays claim to almost the entire South China Sea, but its claims overlap with those of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan. Over the past few months, Manila and Beijing have faced off in a series of confrontations at sea.
A map showing islands and reefs held by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan in the South China Sea.
(AFP)
In related news, the Philippine military accused three Chinese Navy vessels of violating rules on innocent passage during their transit in Philippine waters.
The Chinese ships – a frigate, cruiser and replenishment oiler – were first monitored in the West Philippine Sea on Monday. The West Philippine Sea is Manila’s name for South China Sea waters that lie within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The ships traveled southward and moved at a speed of six knots (11.1 kph), passing through Basilan Channel, towards Indonesia.
They were tracked by the Philippine Navy and Air Force aircraft, the military said, adding that radio challenges were also issued against the Chinese ships.
As of Tuesday morning, Trinidad said the Chinese vessels were about 120 nautical miles south of Basilan. “They are moving out of our exclusive economic zone,” he said.
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During the radio challenges, the Chinese vessels said they were exercising freedom of navigation and innocent passage, according to Trinidad.
A spokesperson for China’s military also said on Monday that the passage complied with “international law and practice.”
“The violation was that the travel through our archipelagic waters was not expeditious,” Trinidad said. “They could have traveled at a faster speed. There were instances in the central part of Sulu Sea that they slowed down to five to six knots.”
Trinidad said the Chinese vessels were likely on the way to Indonesia to take part in an upcoming military exercise, dubbed Komodo, which would involve at least 37 countries.
Apart from Indonesia and China, some of the countries involved in the Komodo exercise this month are the Philippines, the United States, Japan, Australia, France, India, the United Kingdom, and South Korea.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.
January 15, 2025

Japan to raise South China Sea issue with new Trump administration

MANILA — Visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said his government hoped to impress upon incoming U.S. leader Donald Trump how important the South China Sea issue is to peace in Asia.
Iwaya visited Manila on Wednesday as part of a high-profile diplomatic push by Tokyo in Southeast Asian countries that border the strategic waterway. Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba traveled to Malaysia and Indonesia to promote deeper defense and economic ties.
In Manila, Foreign Minister Iwaya met with his Filipino counterpart, Enrique Manalo.
Overlapping claims in the South China Sea “is a legitimate concern for the international community because it directly links to regional peace and stability,” Iwaya told a press briefing afterward.
“Southeast Asia is located at a strategic pivot in the Indo-Pacific and is a world growth center, thus partnership with Southeast Asia is vital for regional peace and stability,” Iwaya said through an interpreter.
“We will approach the next U.S. administration to convey that constructive commitment of the United States in this region is important, also for the United States itself.”
The South China Sea, which is potentially mineral-rich and a crucial corridor for international shipping, has become one of the most perilous geopolitical hot spots in recent years. China claims almost the entire waterway while the Philippines, as well as Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Taiwan have overlapping claims to parts of it.
Over the past few months, Manila and Beijing have faced off in high-stakes confrontations in the disputed waters.
Iwaya said he was expected to attend Trump’s inauguration in Washington on Jan. 20, during which he would seek to build momentum on a trilateral arrangement that the Philippines and Japan forged with the outgoing Biden administration.
Iwaya said Tokyo “strongly opposes any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force” in the South China Sea, where an increasingly bold China has been intruding into the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
China has maintained its claim in the sea region, saying that the activities of its coast guard vessels there were lawful and “fully justified.”
Manalo, the Philippines’ top diplomat, said Chinese and Philippine officials were set to discuss their dispute in their latest bilateral meeting in the Chinese city of Xiamen on Thursday.
Both sides are likely to discuss recent developments in the waterway, including the presence of China’s biggest coast guard ship – and the world’s largest – at the contested Scarborough Shoal.
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During the news briefing on Wednesday, Manalo said that Manila and Tokyo had made “significant strides” in defense and security cooperation.
Japan does not have territorial claims that overlap with China’s expansive ones in the South China Sea, but Tokyo faces a separate territorial challenge from Beijing in the East China Sea.
“As neighbors, we face similar challenges in our common pursuit of regional peace and stability. Thus, we are working together to improve resilience and enhance adaptive capacity in the face of the evolving geopolitical landscape in the Indo-Pacific region,” Manalo said.
Last month, the Philippine Senate ratified a so-called Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with Japan, allowing the two allied nations to deploy troops on each other’s soil for military exercises.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (left) visits a fishing community in Tagburos village on Palawan island, a frontline territory in the Philippines’ dispute with Beijing over the South China Sea, Nov. 22, 2022.
(Jason Gutierrez/BenarNews)
Also on Wednesday, in an exit telephone call to Marcos, outgoing U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris emphasized the need for the two countries to carry on with their alliance after the presidential transfer of power and “in the face of provocations from the People’s Republic of China.”
She noted that Washington “must stand with the Philippines in the face of such provocations and the enduring nature of the U.S. defense commitments to the Philippines,” her office said in a statement.
Marcos and Harris had enjoyed a close working relationship and met six times during her term. In November 2022, the American vice president visited Palawan, the Philippine island on the frontline of Manila’s territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea.
The U.S. and the Philippines are bound by a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty that calls on both nations to come to each other’s aid in times of aggression by a third party.
The Biden administration has indicated it would help the Philippines defend itself in the event of an armed attack “anywhere in the South China Sea.”

Jeoffrey Maitem in Manila contributed to this report.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.
January 15, 2025

Philippine official on Chinese incursions: Not ruling out another South China Sea law

MANILA — Manila may resort to measures such as filing another international lawsuit like the 2016 case against Beijing to stop China’s continuing intimidating actions in the Philippines’ South China Sea waters, a senior Filipino official warned.
Manila has tried options including protests and official diplomatic complaints, and yet a Chinese coast guard ship – the world’s largest – is again in Philippine waters, said a spokesman of the Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, which is Manila’s name for the waters it claims.
The Philippine task force spokesman Jonathan Malaya explained at a press conference on Tuesday that Manila was running out of options in dealing with Beijing’s continued actions to assert what China claims is its sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea.
Since Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assumed the presidency in June 2022, his administration has filed a total of 199 diplomatic protests against Chinese vessels and activities in the waterway.
Reporters asked whether the Philippines was thinking of filing another lawsuit akin to the one adjudicated in its favor and against Beijing in 2016 by an international arbitral tribunal.
“Will [the presence of the Chinese ship in Manila-claimed waters] lead to another case? All options are on the table,” he answered.
“[T]he closer the ‘monster’ ship is [to] Philippine waters, the more it [raises tensions] and the more the Philippine government contemplates things it was not contemplating before.”
Malaya said that China was “pushing us to the wall” but the Philippines would not back down.
“We do not waver or cower in the face of intimidation. On the contrary, it strengthens our resolve because we know we are in the right.”
“The Monster” refers to the giant 12,000-ton China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel 5901, which patrolled the disputed Scarborough Shoal area in recent days.
The behemoth subsequently moved to the northwestern coast of the Philippines’ Luzon island on Tuesday, where it was last spotted some 77 nautical miles (143 kilometers) from the shoreline.
China responded to Malay’s comments saying it maintained its claim in the waterway. The CCG vessels’ activities there were lawful and “fully justified,” added the superpower’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
“China’s sovereignty and rights and interests in the South China Sea were established in the long course of history, and are solidly grounded in history and the law and compliant with the international law and practice,” spokesman Guo Jiakun said Monday at a news conference.
“We call on the Philippines once again to immediately stop all infringement activities, provocations and false accusations, and stop all its actions that jeopardize peace and stability and complicate the situation in the South China Sea.”
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Located about 125 nautical miles (232 km) from Luzon Island, the Scarborough Shoal – known as Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines – has been under China’s de facto control since 2012.
Beijing’s possession of the shoal forced Manila to file a lawsuit at the world court in The Hague.
The court’s international arbitral tribunal in 2016 ruled in Manila’s favor but Beijing has never acknowledged that decision.
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Philippine officials on Monday said the government had filed yet another diplomatic protest over the presence of Chinese ships in waters within its exclusive economic zone.
In recent years, a slew of countries, including the United States, Japan, Australia, France and United Kingdom, have also supported Manila and carried out joint sails with the Philippines in the contested sea.
Reporters asked Malaya whether the Philippine government was considering asking its foreign allies the U.S. and Japan for help in driving away the Chinese vessel.
“We’re keeping our options open,” answered Malaya.
“Now the ball is in the court of the PRC (People’s Republic of China),” he said.
Recently, the Philippine Senate ratified a so-called Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with Japan, allowing the two allied nations to deploy troops on each other’s soil for military exercises.
The RAA – which will take effect once Philippine President Marcos signs off on it and Japan’s legislature ratifies it – is the first of its kind signed by Tokyo with an Asian country.
Japan, unlike the Philippines, does not have territorial claims that overlap with China’s expansive ones in the South China Sea.
But Tokyo has a separate dispute with Beijing over a group of uninhabited islands in the Senkaku chain (also known as the Diaoyu Islands) in the East China Sea.
On Monday, the leaders of the Philippines, Japan and the United States held a telephone summit to discuss regional security and their countries’ “continuing cooperation” amid China’s activities in the disputed South China Sea.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.
November 11, 2024

Security experts: NATO-type Southeast Asian defense alliance not feasible at present

MANILA – A Southeast Asian defense alliance modeled after NATO and aimed at countering China may not be set up any time soon because the region’s nations would want to maintain good relations with the superpower, regional security analysts said.
The creation of more minilateral agreements, though, rather than multilateral ones like the 32-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization, are not only likely but may be more effective, they added.
A minilateral agreement is an accord between a small group of nations that have come together to achieve mutual goals or tackle shared problems, according to international relations experts.
For instance, a good example is a minilateral agreement renewed last year by the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia for joint patrols on their seas, said geopolitics expert Don McLain Gill.
“The most we can expect [in the form of a defense alliance] for now is an area- specific and time-dependent security cooperation between particular states in the region in a way that would also reflect individual varying sensitivities,” he told RFA affiliate BenarNews.
Another lecturer from the university concurred.
“I think that [creating] minilaterals is more plausible,” political science lecturer Sherwin Ona told BenarNews.
“I also think that armed enforcement has its limitations and has a tendency for escalation.”
Established in 1949, NATO commits its 32-member countries to each other’s defense in the event any are attacked. Aside from the United States, other NATO members include the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France, and Canada.
(From left) U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin; U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken; Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. pose for the cameras after holding a meeting in Manila, July 30, 2024.
Conversation about a regional NATO, Asian or Southeast Asian, revived after now-Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba wrote a paper late September for think-tank Hudson Institute about his proposal for such a defense alliance.
“[T]he absence of a collective self-defense system like NATO in Asia means that wars are likely to break out because there is no obligation for mutual defense,” Ichiba wrote late September.
“Under these circumstances, the creation of an Asian version of NATO is essential to deter China by its Western allies,” added the then-candidate for prime minister added.
The proposal was rejected by the United States and India said it doesn’t share Ishiba’s vision.
Similar ideas have irritated Beijing, which sees itself as the main focus of these proposals, in the same way that Moscow has accused NATO of concentrating its defense efforts against Russia.
U.S. troops leave a hill on a beach in Laoag city, northern Philippines, during U.S.-Philippine exercises, May 6, 2024.
In Southeast Asia specifically as well, the idea of a NATO-like grouping has been talked about in response to some countries claiming harassment by Beijing’s vessels in the South China Sea, where they have overlapping claims.
Beijing claims most of the South China Sea, but its claims overlap those of Taiwan, which isn’t a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, all of which are.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. trod carefully when asked on Tuesday about a grouping similar to NATO consisting of the 10 members of ASEAN.
“I don’t think it is possible at this time because of the dichotomies and divergence between country interests,” Teodoro answered at the venue of a private conference in Manila.
Still, he acknowledged the need to boost multilateral security alliances.
Teodoro noted that Manila has a bilateral defense alliance with Washington since 1951, even before it became one of the Southeast Asian countries to set up the ASEAN in 1967.
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Sherwin Ona, a political science lecturer at Manila’s De La Salle University, told BenarNews that ASEAN nations would stick to the bloc’s “non-interference policy.”
Besides, some Southeast Asian countries are very pro-Beijing because their economies are heavily dependent on China, indicated Ona.
“I agree [with Teodoro] about the beneficial relationship between countries that are pro-Beijing.”
Another reason Southeast Asian countries may be cool to the idea of an “Asian NATO” is because they have different security interests, noted a researcher at the New Delhi-based think-tank Observer Research Foundation.
“This is because most countries are convinced that a multilateral security architecture will only elevate regional insecurities, and make them subservient to great power contestations,” Abhishek Sharma wrote in the Deccan Herald.
‘Loose, flexible’ minilaterals
Minilaterals are “loose and flexible,” believes Gill.
“This is not NATO’s established collective security structure,” he said.
Minilaterals are “only as good as they last.”
Gill explained that if one country in a three-nation minilateral agreement felt it did not any longer share the same interest with the other two, “it can walk out anytime.”
Geopolitical analyst Julio Amador III believes a network of “minilateral ties” might be able to offset this shortcoming and would be more effective.
Additionally, he said there was a way ASEAN as a bloc could become “a formidable diplomatic counterweight.”
If the group’s members, particularly those that drift towards China, agree that there are some issues “that go beyond national interests, that there are issues that do matter to the collective interests of the group,” ASEAN could be powerful, Amador said.
However, De La Salle University’s Gill said that the character of Southeast Asian cooperation tended to be based mostly on mutual interest.
“An ASEAN version of NATO is unlikely going to happen given the nature of ASEAN,” he said.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.
September 16, 2024

Philippines says it did not surrender from Sabina Shoal

Filipino officials tried to reassure the Philippine public Monday that they had not surrendered Manila’s claim of sovereign rights over Sabina Shoal to China by withdrawing a coast guard ship from the disputed reef.

The Philippine Coast Guard said it pulled its ship out from the shoal’s waters over the weekend and sent it back to port because crew members needed medical care and repairs had to be done to the BRP Teresa Magbanua after a five-month deployment.

Because of alleged harassment by Chinese ships at Sabina Shoal , the Philippine crew had to ration their food supply and eat rice porridge for weeks, a coast guard spokesman said.

“We did not surrender [the Sabina Shoal]. It’s wrong to say we surrendered it,” said Commodore Jay Tarriela, the coast guard’s spokesman on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), in defending the coast guard’s move.

The Coast Guard plans to dispatch a ship back to Sabina Shoal as soon as possible in order to guard the South China Sea reef that lies within Manila’s exclusive economic zone, he said.

“The Philippine Coast Guard, together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, will never abandon our sovereign rights over these waters,” he told a news conference.

Philippine Coast Guard personnel carry a crew member off the BRP Teresa Magbanua after the vessel arrived at a port in Puerto Princesa city, Palawan province, Philippines, Sept. 15, 2024. [HO/Philippine Coast Guard/AFP]

Both China and the Philippines have contending claims over the shoal, located about 140 km (76 nautical miles) from the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200 km (648 nautical miles) from Hainan island, the nearest major Chinese landmass. The Philippines has sovereign rights to explore Sabina Shoal for natural resources because of its location within Manila’s 200-nautical mile EEZ.

China refers to Sabina Shoal as “Xianbin Jiao” and the Philippines calls it Escoda Shoal. For Manila, the reef serves as a rendezvous point for resupply missions to nearby Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Shoal), where the Philippines keeps a World War II-era ship to serve as a military outpost and territorial marker.

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The Teresa Magbanua, one of the coast guard’s largest and most modern ships, was deployed to Sabina Shoal in April amid reports that China may be trying to reclaim land there. In response, Beijing accused Manila of “illegally grounding” the BRP Teresa Magbanua to “forcibly occupy” the shoal.

In August, Manila claimed that Beijing had harassed its vessels at least five times in waters near the shoal.

Tarriela declined to say if another vessel had been deployed or was about to be sent to replace the Teresa Magbanua at Sabina Shoal.

Since last month, the coast guard had difficulty resupplying the ship since due to alleged Chinese harassment in area waters, he said.

In addition to crew members having to eat rice porridge for weeks, the ship’s desalination machine also broke down, forcing them to drink rainwater, according to Tarriela.

“When there is no rain, they even have to gather water from their air-conditioning units. Then they’re just going to boil it and that will be used for drinking,” said Tarriela.

Following Manila’s pullout of the BRP Teresa Magbanua, Beijing’s coast guard said on Sunday that China had “indisputable sovereignty” over Sabina Shoal.

Shades of Scarborough Shoal?

Some analysts believe that the Sabina Shoal situation is similar to what happened at Scarborough Shoal.

The South China Sea atoll, approximately 222 km (120 nautical miles) west of the Philippine island of Luzon, is a rich fishing destination for Filipinos.

China took possession of the shoal in 2012, forcing the Philippines to file a lawsuit before a world court. Four years later, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in Manila’s favor and dismissed Beijing’s sweeping territorial claims over the South China Sea.

But Beijing has refused to acknowledge the ruling.

Map showing occupied or administered islands in the disputed South China Sea. [AFP]

Defense and security analyst Sherwin Ona said the government “should maintain a strong presence [in Sabina Shoal] to avoid a repeat of 2012.”

China is engaged in attrition, Ona told BenarNews on Monday. “They’re severely damaging our ships to limit our operational capability. The de facto control of the [Sabina Shoal] is the main goal.”

“They know that our resources are limited. The ramming incidents [in August] show the intention to incapacitate our capital ships,” said Ona, who teaches at Manila’s De La Salle University.

Security analyst Chester Cabalza, however, said it would be a mistake to describe the PCG’s action over the weekend as a retreat. It was necessary, he said, to allow tired coast guard personnel to “recharge.”

“If it’s a retreat for the Philippines, why would we dare to return?” said the analyst at International Development and Security Cooperation, a Manila think-tank, arguing that compared to 12 years ago, Manila could now read “Beijing’s art of deception.”

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BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news outlet.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.

Author: Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews

China: ‘On high alert’