Raissa Robles
Raissa Robles has written for the SCMP since 1996. A freelance journalist specialising in politics, international relations, business and Muslim rebellion, she has contributed to Reuters, the Economist Intelligence Unit, Daily Mail, Times of London, Radio Netherlands and Asiaweek. She runs the award-winning investigative and opinion blog, raissarobles.com. Her book, Marcos Martial Law: Never Again, a brief history of the dictatorship won the 2017 National Book Awards for Non-Fiction. Her Twitter handle is @raissawriter.
Raissa Robles has written for the SCMP since 1996. A freelance journalist specialising in politics, international relations, business and Muslim rebellion, she has contributed to Reuters, the Economist Intelligence Unit, Daily Mail, Times of London, Radio Netherlands and Asiaweek. She runs the award-winning investigative and opinion blog, raissarobles.com. Her book, Marcos Martial Law: Never Again, a brief history of the dictatorship won the 2017 National Book Awards for Non-Fiction. Her Twitter handle is @raissawriter.
US embassy says American military personnel wanted to assess Sanjia Steel’s premises as a potential site for next year’s Balikatan exercises.
Analysts say Marcos’ strategy of ‘accommodation over confrontation’ allowed the Duterte camp time to regroup and rebuild its political base.
His anti-corruption push has revived questions over his family’s unpaid estate taxes and ill-gotten wealth.
The president also confirms for the first time a ‘provisional understanding’ with China over the resupply of WWII warship Sierra Madre.
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Pentagon’s Colby urges allies to invest more in defence as Washington prioritises pragmatic Indo-Pacific partnerships over moral values.
The sailor had served in a key position aboard the BRP Sierra Madre, then was involved in resupply runs to the outpost.
He vowed tax cuts, cheaper rice and corruption cases against “big fish”, but critics questioned how his government would fund the pledges.
The president enters his final two years in office juggling a corruption crackdown, a slowing economy and rising hunger.
Ruling allowing access to key financial records could give prosecutors a clearer route to show she amassed ill-gotten wealth, analysts say.
Lieutenant General Antonio G. Nafarrete’s career has been closely tied to the restive Mindanao region, which is preparing for polls.
The transition comes at a sensitive time due to ongoing tensions in the South China Sea and Manila’s row with some retired officers over Marcos.
A symposium in Guangzhou has claimed Batanes ‘constitutes a natural geographical extension of Taiwan’ and therefore belongs to mainland China.
Officials and analysts say Manila’s deterrence strategies can now make China ‘at least hesitate’, even though there is still much to be done.
Blacklisted by Beijing, a defiant Gilberto Teodoro Jnr demands China ‘get out’ of waters Manila claims.
Prosecutors will need at least 16 votes to convict her but analysts warn the Senate’s shifting loyalties may complicate the task.
Senator Rodante Marcoleta, a member of the Iglesia ni Cristo, is under investigation over US$1.2 million ‘donations’ to fund his candidacy.
The Philippines exported 2.74 million workers last year. For many, leaving is still the most reliable path to a better life.
While the country has gun-control laws, most Filipinos simply ignore them and arm themselves without much difficulty, experts say.
Observers say Beijing could be using its ‘old playbook’ of deploying scientific activities to boost military presence in the South China Sea.
Analysts warned that repeated breaches of high-profile state websites could erode trust even if no sensitive data was stolen.
Analysts say Beijing may be trying to ‘kill the chicken to warn the monkeys’, as Manila faces calls for a tit-for-tat response.
In earlier messages seen on the hacked website, which has been restored, a group demanded accountability and slammed ‘corrupt networks’.
Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jnr says the military will stay out of politics despite some unease within the ranks.
The arrest has left rival blocs short of the numbers needed to act ahead of the vice-president’s impeachment trial.
Two pollsters say the vice-president is vulnerable in the key regions of Metro Manila and the group of provinces known as ‘Balance Luzon’.
The navy based its assessment partly on regional partners admiring its newer ships that were deployed in recent joint exercises.
The vice-president’s impeachment trial starts amid chaos in the Senate from leadership battles and the fallout from her father’s ICC case.
‘Call me a coward’, ICC fugitive Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa told the cameras, as he holed up in the Senate in a bid to escape justice.
The leadership change could prove critical as the Senate leader presides over the trial of an impeached vice-president.
