The Philippine Navy has entered a transformative phase with the arrival of the BRP Diego Silang (FFG-07), the second of the Miguel Malvar-class guided-missile frigates and a critical milestone in the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ modernization program. This newest asset, built by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, South Korea, represents not just another…
The Philippines has become an unavoidable player in the Indo-Pacific’s most dangerous flashpoints. Its northern islands sit less than 100 miles from Taiwan, placing the country directly inside the “First Island Chain” and along the critical Luzon Strait, a chokepoint for China’s naval access to the Pacific. At the same time, the Marcos Jr. administration…
The South China Sea remains one of the world’s most volatile flashpoints, where strategic ambition collides with the sovereignty of smaller states. At the heart of this struggle lies China’s sweeping “nine-dash line” claim, invalidated by the 2016 arbitral ruling but still enforced through island-building and “gray-zone” coercion. For years, the Philippines appeared the passive…
On Friday, September 5, 2025, Filipino forces successfully brought food, fuel, and fresh troops to the BRP Sierra Madre, the rusty World War II–era ship that serves as the Philippines’ outpost at Second Thomas Shoal, also known as Ayungin Shoal. The resupply mission took place despite growing Chinese activity in the area, including water cannon…
The South China Sea has once again become the stage for a dangerous game of cat and mouse. In late August 2025, Philippine patrols confirmed something alarming—more than two dozen Chinese vessels massed around Scarborough Shoal and Ayungin Shoal. These weren’t just harmless fishing boats. The swarm included China Coast Guard ships, maritime militia lashed…
Sandy Cay, a scattering of tiny sandbars near Pag-asa Island, has abruptly emerged as the newest pressure point in the South China Sea. For years, this reef was little more than a footnote on maritime maps, submerged at high tide and ignored by most of the world. But in 2025, it has been thrust to…
Imagine a silent, invisible killer lurking beneath the waves—not a submarine or torpedo, but an autonomous, AI-powered sea mine. The South China Sea is no ordinary body of water, serving as one of the world’s most vital arteries of commerce and a crucible of overlapping territorial claims. At the center of this storm is China’s…
Fresh satellite images have just blown the lid on what Beijing doesn’t want the world to see. Captured by Maxar Technologies, the photos show a battered Chinese Coast Guard ship docked at the Yulin Naval Base in Hainan, flanked by tugboats as crews scramble to repair its mangled frame. The most striking detail? A bow…
In the pre-dawn hours of 1999, retired Philippine Navy Vice Admiral Eduardo Santos orchestrated one of the most quietly audacious maneuvers in modern maritime history. Without fanfare, he piloted the aging landing ship BRP Sierra Madre across the restless waters of the South China Sea and deliberately ran it aground on the reef known internationally…
The South China Sea, a vital artery of global trade, has once again become the stage for a dangerous confrontation. In August 2025, the unprecedented collision between a Chinese naval destroyer and a China Coast Guard vessel while attempting to block a Philippine ship turned a simmering dispute into a geopolitical powder keg. The Philippine…
