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(Time) On Feb. 25, 1986, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos, from nuns to office workers, occupied one of the Philippine capital’s main arteries—the culmination of a four-day mass protest dubbed the “People Power Revolution.” It was unlike anything Asia, or the world, had seen before. By evening, the authoritarian regime of ailing President Ferdinand Marcos ended—with Marcos leaving for exile in Hawaii along with his wife and children. Replacing him was Corazon Aquino, the widow of an assassinated pro-democracy opposition leader.

More than three decades later, in October 2021, the late dictator’s son and namesake, 64-year-old Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., announced his intention to become the next president of the Philippines. He has teamed up with the daughter of outgoing populist President Rodrigo Duterte, Sara Duterte, who is running for vice-president. They make a formidable team, and are far ahead of other contenders in opinion polls: Marcos had an unprecedented 45-point lead over his closest rival—current vice president Leni Robredo—in a February survey.

One data point stands out from opinion polls: The majority of Marcos’ supporters are those under 30, voters who were not born when his father imposed nationwide martial law and presided over human rights violations, corruption, and a massive economic slowdown. The younger Marcos also knows where to meet these supporters: his team engages with millions of users on social platforms—especially TikTok and Facebook—both inside the Philippines and abroad… Read More

(St. Vincent Tribune) ManilaThe Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Sunday reported a recent incident of “close distance maneuvering” by a Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessel in the disputed South China Sea that “constrained” the movement of a Philippine ship sailing nearby.

The March 2 incident took place during Philippine maritime patrol operations around the Scarborough Shoal, locally known as Bajo de Masinloc, the PCG said in a news release.
It was yet unclear whether the Philippines had lodged a diplomatic protest for the incident. The PCG said it had to wait for the go-signal from the country’s National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea before making the incident public.
The incident involved a Chinese Coast Guard vessel with bow number 3305 that conducted close distance maneuvering over an area of approximately 21 yards (19.2 meters) in the direction of Philippine vessel BRP Malabrigo, the PCG said.
“This constrained the maneuvering space of BRP Malabrigo — a clear violation of the 1972 International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS),” the PCG said… Read More

(Manila Times) REAL estate developer Suntrust Properties Inc. (SPI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Megaworld Corp., once again proves its potential in providing quality homes for every Filipino.

SPI acquired two awards in the first-ever Carousell Property Awards last March 22, 2022. Its properties Suntrust Kirana was adjudged as Best Affordable Condominium while Suntrust Verona as Best Development: Mid-Range Housing.

“In welcoming our 25th anniversary, we are proud to say that for the longest time, we never failed to deliver. This award symbolizes every hard-working employee that Suntrust has. From the site workers and maintenance to the admins, agents and executives. This can never be possible without each other’s effort. SPI will be devoted to continue providing better homes for each and every Filipino,” said Atty. Harrison Paltongan, president of Suntrust Properties Inc… Read More

(RTHK) The Philippines and the United States began their biggest joint military drills since 2015 on Monday, underscoring renewed defence co-operation as improving ties between Manila and Beijing have cooled over the last year.

The annual “Balikatan” (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises with US forces will involve 8,900 troops this year. Taking place over two weeks, they will include live fire exercises and training with amphibious assault vehicles.

Since taking office in 2016, the Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, has sought closer ties with China in exchange for pledges of loans, aid and investment, and distanced himself from the United States, a treaty ally.

Last year, however, he withdrew a threat to scrap a two-decade old pact that approves the presence of US troops on Philippine territory.

“We are sending a message to the world that the alliance between our countries is stronger than ever,” Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement.

At Duterte’s behest, the Balikatan deployment in 2017 fell to as low as 5,500 troops, half the number of the previous year, and was stripped of all combat-related exercises.

Live fire exercises returned in 2018 and 2019 but the scale of the drills remained smaller and in 2020 they were cancelled due to the pandemic. Only 640 troops took part last year.

US exercise director, Major General Jay Bargeron, said the latest drills should not be seen as a show of force. They come, however, as Manila has criticised China’s maritime activities in disputed parts of the South China Sea… Read More

(Journal Online) Philippines – Secuna, the Philippines’ community-powered cybersecurity testing platform, has announced that they now have onboarded 1,300 registered ethical hackers in their platform which is poised to be the largest established hacker community in the country.

This is in conjunction with the company’s goal to encourage the national government agency to use its platform “for free.” Secuna is developing a business model with government agencies that is similar to “Hack the Pentagon” and “Hack the Air Force” cybersecurity programs in the United States, in which ethical hackers identify security holes in an entity’s computer systems.

According to its CEO and Co-Founder AJ Dumanhug, having a large network of ethical hackers is a huge advantage for Secuna in helping companies, organizations, and even the government secure their digital assets. As hackers, they are also privy to cybercriminals’ ways, mindsets, and methods, enabling them to stay one step ahead. They are not only trained to spot vulnerabilities but are also there to prevent further online crimes. Their understanding of the breakdown of a data breach, where the common vulnerabilities are, and how to potentially resolve these before they become a problem helps reduce a company’s risk of being breached… Read More

(The Manila Times) SUBIC, Zambales: A new “green” wastewater treatment plant will be constructed by Subicwater together with the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) and the Department of Science and Technology (DoST), with the aim of creating a cost-effective way to treat wastewater and its effluents.

The treatment plant will be the first of its kind in the Philippines as it will use a technology called “Phyto Vortex,” which will separate wastewater and its effluents, or the sediment that remained in the wastewater.

Coupled with the use of indigenous Filipino plants, the aim is to extract the nutrients coming from the effluent sediments to be discharged to the environment while bringing back some form of wastewater that could be reused as irrigation or as flushing water.

Subicwater will use as a pilot site its own wastewater facility located near the old campus of The Manila Times College in Upper Cubi, which was constructed during the time American forces were in the freeport zone… Read More

(Radio Free Asia) The Philippine Coast Guard said Friday it had seen more Filipino fishermen operating off a rich fishing ground in Manila’s exclusive economic zone, describing this as a “significant milestone” because China has effectively controlled South China Sea waters in that area for the past decade.

A patrol ship had monitored around 45 Filipino fishing boats in the Scarborough Shoal between Feb. 25 and March 5 – the highest number observed since 2012, when China took control of the area – according to Adm. Artemio Abu, the coast guard commandant.

In a statement, the coast guard confirmed “the increasing presence of Filipino fishermen” in the area and said that it had also kept watch and provided the Filipino fishermen with relief supplies.

“Seeing more Filipino fishing boats in Bajo de Masinloc is a proof of our intensified efforts to safeguard Filipino fishermen who consider fishing as their primary source of livelihood,” Abu said using the Filipino name for Scarborough Shoal, a triangular shaped rocky outcrop… Read More

(The Sun) A MAN who stabbed his model ex-girlfriend to death then dumped her body in a suitcase in the River Severn has been detained for life.

Charles Byrne, 25, also attempted to murder an eight-year-old girl after she allegedly saw Christina Rowe’s body in Worcester.

The fiend strangled and stabbed 28-year-old Christina, who had a daughter, at a home in the city before moving her body to the river in a suitcase.

She was discovered near a footbridge in the water on February 10 last year.

Byrne, who had met Christina on a dating app, later told police: “I just lost my temper”.

He has now been detained for life with a minimum of 16 years after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility… Read More