The Filipino diaspora is one of the most widespread in the world, with members making their homes from Alaska to the UAE. The FT reports that in 2012, overseas Filipino sent $21 billion back to their country of origin. Now, in the wake of Typhoon Yolanda, one of the most powerful storms in recorded history, […]
The Philippines were hurt by one of the strongest typhoons ever recorded. Typhoon Haiyan hit a highly populated area of the Philippines on November 7th and 8th. Apparently an estimated 10 millions people were affected by the Typhoon, and almost 3 million people have lost their livelihood. The death toll stood at 3,974 and over […]
photo: Associated Press Chinese president Xi Jinping and premier Li Keqiang’s diplomatic offensive in Southeast Asia reaped benefits last month, as Beijing reached agreement with Vietnam to form a working group to jointly explore the waters of the disputed South China Sea. Beijing seems to have copied Obama’s “pivot to Asia,” in the wake of […]
Every year, roughly between August and November, the monsoon season hits Southeast Asia as a matter of fact. Despite this constant and consistent phenomenon, the corrupt governments which proliferate throughout the region remain inept and incompetent to handle the inexorable flooding which the rainstorms leave behind. In the Philippines, an estimated 10,000 people are dead […]
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has just returned from his second visit to Asia, only two months after partaking in the Shangri La Dialogue back in June, and his second visit to Asia in six months since becoming secretary of defense. Acknowledging the immense human suffering and tragedy that continues to unfold in Syria […]
photo by Getty Images Beijing’s recent actions to extend its naval presence in the South and East China Sea, coupled with a perceived reluctance to solve territorial claims, is seriously undermining security among its neighbors, especially in the Philippines. Last year, in the waters Manila refers to as the West Philippine Sea, China’s occupied the […]
With the French military intervention in Mali shifting to a more sustained action, the reality of the long, hard slog in the Mali region has triggered inevitable questions by diplomats, policy planners and many others as to what defines success – and what comes next? Most mouthed answer: “Somalia.” That’s correct. The place […]
Here on the tranquil island of Palawan, in the West Philippine Sea, the arrival of Chinese naval vessels is causing quite some anxiety among local residents. Last Friday, three ships from the Peoples Liberation Army Navy’s North China Sea fleet, the missile destroyer Qingdao and missile frigates Yantai and Yancheng, traveled through the Bashi Channel, […]
The year 2012 was for Beijing a year to display its dragon-like qualities of authority, dignity, and honor. The dragon is also the symbol of the emperor, so it may have been auspicious for a new leader to be chosen during November’s meeting of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. While […]
Throughout the years, I have been critic of the Aquino’s, a powerful family which has had significant influence in Filipino politics dating all the way back to the Malolos Congress at the turn of the century. They are a family which is not short on drama, but always seems to look indefatigable and benevolent when […]
Today marks the start of the East Asia Summit, an annual forum where the leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their counterparts from eight other nations, including China and the U.S., meet to discuss security and economic concerns. One issue which may take center stage concerns conflicting claims over the […]
Safe inside his armored motorcade and surrounded by nearly two dozen police motorcycle escorts, Chinese Premier Hu Jintao traversed north along Sothearos Boulevard in Phnom Penh this past Saturday morning, passing a 20 foot portrait of his face as well as one of his wife’s as his entourage made its way towards the Peace Palace […]
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