The Panatag Shoal dispute is a microcosm of the larger geopolitical contest for the South China Sea. Known locally as Bajo de Masinloc and in China as Huangyan Island, this triangle-shaped coral atoll is not just a fishing ground, it is a test case for sovereignty, international law, and great-power rivalry. At the heart of…
Thousands of Filipinos came to streets on Sunday in what has become one of the country’s largest protests in recent years, rallying against a massive corruption scandal that has rocked the government. The controversy centers on more than ₱545 billion in public funds earmarked for flood-control projects—many of which were allegedly substandard or never built…
The South China Sea just witnessed one of its most dramatic and lopsided standoffs yet. In what’s now called the “22 Chinese Ships vs. Alone a Wolf” incident, a lone Philippine Navy vessel was surrounded and harassed by 22 Chinese ships near Scarborough Shoal, an area deep inside the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The…
Just weeks after the September 2025 collision near Scarborough Shoal, three Chinese warships have now entered Philippine waters, setting off alarm bells in Manila and Washington. The latest incursion of three Chinese warships into Philippine waters did not happen in a vacuum. The Philippine government has reacted swiftly and forcefully to the presence of Chinese…
Just days ago, China officially urged the Philippines to stop “provocations” around Huangyan Island after what Beijing calls a dangerous new incursion. The geostrategic significance of Bajo de Masinloc is impossible to overstate. The Philippines’ position on the shoal is firmly anchored in international law and reinforced by diplomacy, on-the-water action, and stronger security ties….
Perched at the very crossroads of the Indo-Pacific, the Philippines is more than just a cluster of islands, it is a gatekeeper to sea lanes that carry over a third of the world’s maritime trade and a cornerstone of the “first island chain” that shapes U.S. and allied defense strategy. Beneath these same contested waters…
The South China Sea has entered a dangerous new phase as great-power rivalry collides with long-running territorial disputes. In mid-September 2025 the United States, Japan, and the Philippines carried out joint maritime exercises inside Manila’s Exclusive Economic Zone to demonstrate unity and a commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. Within hours, China’s Southern Theater…
The Scarborough Shoal, called Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines and Huangyan Island in China, has once again become the center of an escalating maritime dispute. The Philippines answered China’s September 10, 2025 declaration of a “national nature reserve” with a strong, unequivocal diplomatic protest, insisting the plan is an “illegitimate and unlawful” infringement on…
The Indo-Pacific is bracing for a new era of tension, as rival powers jostle for influence and flashpoints from the Taiwan Strait to the West Philippine Sea threaten to ignite. At the heart of the Philippines’ forward defense stands Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM) and the Philippine Marine Corps, the nation’s vital first responders to any…
China’s latest move at Scarborough Shoal shows how one remote reef can ignite a global maritime crisis. For the Philippines, this low-lying atoll just 124 nautical miles from Luzon is both a traditional fishing ground and, under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), part of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The…
