What’s at Stake When Marcos Meets Trump? Possibly Everything. Will this be a turning point for the Philippines or a diplomatic disaster? From July 20 to 22, all eyes turn to Washington, D.C., where President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will meet Donald Trump for the first time. But this isn’t just another photo op. This…
It starts with Sabah, a lingering wound in Southeast Asian geopolitics. Long claimed by the Philippines and governed by Malaysia, the dispute has flared up again. In 2025, President Marcos Jr. reignited the claim, echoing Duterte’s words: “Sabah is ours. That is historical.” Malaysia fired back. PM Anwar Ibrahim declared: “Sabah will never be part…
The Philippines just made a bold move that’s making waves across Asia. In a deal announced this week, Manila confirmed it will purchase six advanced patrol warships from Japan, a move aimed at modernizing its naval fleet amid rising tensions in the West Philippine Sea. These new multi-role response ships, to be built by Mitsubishi…
They say the most dangerous battles aren’t always fought on massive battlefields but on forgotten pieces of land surrounded by water. Now imagine this: a tiny island, no bigger than a small village, floating in turquoise seas. It has no skyscrapers, no crowds, not even traffic. Just palm trees, coral reefs and a military garrison…
Malampaya is dying, and with it, a key pillar of our energy security. For over two decades, this offshore gas field has powered nearly 20% of Luzon’s electricity, providing vital fuel for gas plants that help keep the lights on in Metro Manila. But the Department of Energy (DOE), as cited by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian…
The external threat now has become more pronounced, more worrisome.” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., February 2025 Something’s changing in the Pacific and fast. Not long ago, the Philippines was focused inward. Its soldiers chased insurgents in the jungles of Mindanao. Coast guards cracked down on pirates and smugglers in the southern seas. Disaster relief was…
What if your backyard, your oceans, your islands, your home, was being watched by a foreign power, every single day? Not with bullets or bombs, but with silent ships, unmanned drones, and radar signals that never sleep. Welcome to the Philippines in 2025, a tropical paradise caught in the crosshairs of one of the most…
It’s not just another carrier docking, it’s a global message. That’s how a U.S. Navy officer summed it up as the USS George Washington, a 100,000-ton symbol of American naval dominance, sailed into Manila Bay, drawing the eyes of both allies and rivals across the Indo-Pacific. On the shoreline, Filipino fishermen watched silently as the…
In what could mark a seismic shift in U.S. force posture across the Indo-Pacific, American lawmakers are pushing for the construction of a major ammunition manufacturing and storage plant at the former U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay — a site once considered the crown jewel of Washington’s military footprint in Southeast Asia. If the plan…
The sight of MV-22 Ospreys soaring above the northernmost frontier of the Philippines marked a symbolic and strategic milestone on June 1, 2025, as U.S. Marines from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 364 (VMM-364), under Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, extracted their counterparts from the 3rd Littoral Combat Team, 3rd Littoral Regiment, 3rd…
