Filipinli politikacı
Tinio on P24-B ‘leadership fund:’ Marcos prepared, signed 2025 budget
MANILA, Philippines — Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio on Friday slammed Malacañang’s claim that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was oblivious of the P24-billion “leadership fund,” saying that he was the one who prepared and signed the 2025 national budget. “The President prepared and signed the 2025 national budget. That ‘leadership fund’
Marcos seeks ‘reset’ in Philippines-China ties to ease tensions
Philippine president says renewed dialogue with Beijing aims to prevent misunderstandings, conflict in disputed waters
Philippines’ Marcos confident on economic cooperation with China, despite rows
Ferdinand Marcos Jr said there had been many instances of the two countries cooperating, including on energy supplies when conflict broke out in the Middle East this year.
Palace: Marcos unaware of DPWH ‘leadership fund’
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was not aware of the “leadership fund” amounting to P24 billion that was allocated to senators for their pet infrastructure projects under the 2025 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Palace press officer Claire Castro said on Thursday. Castro also maintained the proposed budget
Saray: Marcos'un 24 milyar peso liderlik fonundan haberi yokMarcos unaware of alleged DPWH ‘leadership fund,’ says Palace
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was not aware of the alleged “leadership fund” allotted by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for senators during the tenure of former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said Thursday. Bonoan said before the Sandiganbayan on Wednesday that all senators in the
Nafarrete, 37 other AFP generals, officers get CA’s nod
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Appointments (CA) on Thursday confirmed the appointment of Gen. Antonio Nafarrete as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), along with 37 other generals, senior officers and flag officers. Nafarrete, who was appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as AFP chief of staff in July,
Sel tonlarca çöpü nehre taşıdı. Manila'da korkutan görüntüler
Filipinler'in başkenti Manila ve çevresini etkileyen şiddetli muson yağmurları, tonlarca çöpü nehir, kanal ve kıyılara sürükledi. Filipinler'de günlerdir etkili olan şiddetli yağışlar ve sellerin ardından Metro Manila'nın su yolları tonlarca atıkla doldu. Reuters'ın 11 Ağustos'ta görüntülediği Parañaque kentinde işçiler, Baclaran Kilisesi yakınındaki su yolunu kaplayan plastik şişe, poşet ve diğer atıkları elleriyle ve teknelerle toplamaya çalıştı. Bir haftadır devam eden muson yağmurlarının birkaç ton çöpü Manila'daki nehir ve koylara taşıdığı belirtildi. Görüntülerde suyun yüzeyinin büyük bölümünün çöplerle kaplandığı, temizlik görevlilerinin bazı noktalarda atıkların arasında ilerlemekte zorlandığı görüldü. Filipinler Çevre ve Doğal Kaynaklar Bakanlığı personeli de temizlik çalışmalarına katıldı. Baclaran bölgesinde sorun yalnızca nehir ve kanallarla sınırlı kalmadı. Manila Körfezi'nden gelen tonlarca çöp Paranaque kıyılarına da vurdu. Yerel yetkililer, yüksek gelgit ve şiddetli yağışların körfezdeki atıkları kıyıya taşıdığını açıkladı. Plastiklerin yanı sıra lastik, giysi ve strafor parçalarının da su yüzeyini kapladığı bildirildi. Parañaque çevre yetkilileri, yalnızca bu bölgedeki çöplerin taşınması için yaklaşık 10 kamyona ihtiyaç duyulabileceğini belirtti. Filipinler Bayındırlık Bakanı Vince Dizon, Baclaran'daki Redemptorist su kanalını incelemesinin ardından Paranaque'nin ciddi bir "çöp krizi" ile karşı karşıya olduğunu söyledi. Dizon, bölgedeki su yollarını daha önce bu kadar kötü durumda görmediğini belirterek temizlik için yüzer ekskavatörler ve çöp taşıma mavnaları dahil daha fazla ekipmanın bölgeye gönderileceğini açıkladı. Filipinler Devlet Başkanı Ferdinand Marcos Jr. da kanallarda biriken atıkların yalnızca Parañaque'den gelmediğini, yağışlarla başka bölgelerden taşındığını belirtti. Marcos, uygunsuz çöp dökümünün sel sorununu ağırlaştırdığı uyarısında bulundu. Metro Manila'daki seller, tropikal sistemler Luis ve Maymay'ın yanı sıra Filipinler'de "Habagat" olarak bilinen güneybatı musonunun etkisiyle günlerdir devam eden yağışların ardından meydana geldi. Filipinler ulusal afet makamlarının 11 Ağustos verilerine göre kötü hava koşullarından yaklaşık 2,2 milyon kişi etkilendi. Yetkililer 19 kişinin ölümüne ilişkin bildirimlerin ise doğrulama sürecinde olduğunu açıkladı. Ülkenin meteoroloji kurumu PAGASA, 12 Ağustos'ta da Metro Manila'da güneybatı musonuna bağlı sağanak ve gök gürültülü yağışların beklendiğini, orta kuvvetten yer yer şiddetliye ulaşabilecek yağışların ani sellere yol açabileceğini bildirdi. Yaşananlar, Manila'nın uzun süredir mücadele ettiği atık ve drenaj sorununu da yeniden gündeme taşıdı. Yetkililer, su yollarına atılan çöplerin kanalları tıkayarak yoğun yağış dönemlerinde sellerin etkisini artırdığına dikkat çekiyor.
Muson yağmurları Manila'nın su yollarını çöple doldurduMarcos offers condolences, solidarity with Colombia after 7.4 earthquake
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday expressed condolences for the victims of the powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck western Colombia, adding that the Philippines stands in solidarity with the Latin American nation. The temblor struck on Aug. 10, killing at least 132 people and damaging hundreds of buildings, according to an Aug.
Marcos: Proposed P7.2-T budget to drive ‘transformative reforms’
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said the proposed P7.2-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for fiscal year 2027 will focus on “transformative reforms” aimed at advancing the country’s long-term development goals. In his message following Malacañang’s submission of the proposed national budget to the House of Representatives, Marcos said the spending plan would
DBM submits proposed P7.2-trillion 2027 national budget to Marcos
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Budget and Management has submitted the P7.2-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2027 to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said on Monday. READ: Cabinet approves 2027 national expenditure program The NEP will be formally turned over to Congress on Tuesday, Aug. 11. /jpv
Edwin Mercado appointed new DOH chief replacing Jose Pujalte
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has named former Philhealth chief Edwin Mercado as new secretary of the Department of Health. This was announced by Palace press officer Claire Castro. READ: Prosecution calls out VP Duterte for attacking impeachment court’s integrity Mercado replaced Dr. Jose “Brix” Pujalte Jr. who was appointed DOH secretary on July
One of 18 ‘maleta boys’ says P20M to P25M offered to recant statement
MANILA, Philippines — One of the 18 “maleta boys” who claimed to be former bodyguards of ex-Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co said on Friday that they were offered P20 to P25 million to recant their affidavit implicating several government officials, including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, in the flood control
Palace: Source of fake news on Dela Rosa’s arrest to face raps
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Thursday said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s standing order for the arrest of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa based on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) remains in effect, even as authorities continue searching for the elusive lawmaker. Palace press officer Claire Castro issued the clarification after the
Lawyers note human rights missing in Marcos’ fifth Sona
MANILA, Philippines — Human rights and international law experts said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. lacked a concrete human rights agenda in his fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona), which they said could have touched on the continuing attacks on civil society, red-tagging, and rejoining the International Criminal Court (ICC). Lawyer Romel Bagares, also a
Marcos inspects rehabilitated fish port in Pangasinan
SUAL, Pangasinan – President Marcos inspected on Thursday the P600-million newly rehabilitated and improved Sual fish port of the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority. Marcos likewise spoke with officers and crew of Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessels that are patrolling the West Philippine Sea, two of which were recently water-cannoned by the China Coast Guard.
Marcos visits upgraded quake-hit Davao de Oro hospital
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday inspected the upgraded facilities of quake-damaged Davao de Oro Provincial Hospital–Montevista (DDOPH-Montevista). During the visit, Marcos also turned over P147.94 million from the Socio-Civic Projects Fund to help support the hospital’s operations. READ: Marcos wants electricity system loss charges scrapped Marcos toured the newly constructed Medical Ward
- Güvenlik28 Tem
Quezon priest challenges Marcos’ agrarian reform claims in Sona
LUCENA CITY – A Catholic priest serving in Quezon province is contesting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s claims of success in implementing agrarian reform, saying the continuing plight of farmers in Sariaya town tells a different story. “If agrarian reform has truly been successful, why do farmers in Sariaya who have already been awarded Certificates of
Marcos says ‘perhaps time to revisit nuclear energy’ as Philippines battles high electricity prices
MANILA, July 27 — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, who declared a national energy emergency this year, said...
Marcos: Yüksek Elektrik Fiyatlarıyla Mücadelede Nükleer Enerjiye Dönüş Zamanı- Siyasi27 Tem
Rights advocates ‘disappointed’ with Marcos Sona
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. laid out a sweeping domestic agenda in his State of the Nation Address (Sona), promising expanded tax exemptions, multi-billion-peso social safety nets, and an uncompromising defense of the West Philippine Sea. However, the address quickly drew sharp rebukes from rights groups and civic leaders who branded
Marcos: Filipinos are a ‘noble, kind, gracious and great race’
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona) described Filipinos as a “noble, kind, gracious and great race” that “do not yield” as he reiterated his administration’s commitment to continue upholding the 2016 Arbitral Award. The pronouncement appeared to allude to China’s recent racist remarks, through state-run
Marcos: P58 billion rolled out in response to effects of Middle East war
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. highlighted in his fifth State of the Nation Address the P58 billion fund that was trickled down to local governments in response to the effects of the Middle East conflict in the Philippines. On February 28, 2026, the United States of America and Israel struck Iran, which then
Marcos, Orta Doğu Savaşının Etkilerine Karşı Yerel Yönetimlere 58 Milyar Peso AktardıMarcos cites fuel price measures amid Middle East conflict
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday highlighted during his fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona) his administration’s efforts to cushion the impact of soaring global oil prices triggered by the conflict in the Middle East. Among the measures cited by Marcos during the annual address were the successful purchase and importation
Padilla on Sona absence: Not a protest; I don’t want to offend my friend
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Robin Padilla on Monday, July 27, explained why he won’t attend the fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Padilla, who skipped last year’s Sona as a protest against the detention of former President Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands, pointed
China says US 'not a party' to South China Sea dispute after Trump-Marcos call
Beijing says involvement of 'non-regional countries' only fuels tensions after Trump pledges to raise Manila's concerns with Chinese President Xi Jinping
Hontiveros alerts NBI after getting hundreds of death threats
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Thursday said she has become the target of a wave of online death threats following the July 17 killing of pro-Marcos vlogger Alicia “Mima Alicia” Lipata, prompting her office to seek the National Bureau of Investigation’s help in identifying those behind the posts. The opposition senator said she
Trump to Marcos: Will raise PH concerns with Xi
MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos spoke on the phone late Thursday with United States President Donald Trump where the US leader said he would “take up concerns of the Philippines” with China in his next meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Presidential Communications Office said. The call was confirmed by US Ambassador to the
Phone a friend: Trump tells Marcos he’ll raise PH concerns with Xi
MANILA, Philippines — United States President Donald Trump told President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. he will raise the Philippine leader’s latest issues, especially those involving the latest confrontations in the South China Sea, directly to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump made the commitment during a phone call with Marcos on Thursday evening (Philippine time), according to Malacañang.
Marcos to visit, confer Order of Lapulapu to injured personnel in WPS
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday will visit the two Philippine Navy personnel injured during an encounter with the Chinese Coast Guard in the West Philippine Sea, according to Palace press officer Claire Castro. Marcos will also personally confer the Order of Lapulapu on the personnel and provide financial aid of P100,000 each,
SONA 2025 throwback: Marcos warns heads will roll over water
MANILA, Philippines – Water supply was one of the key issues raised by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) in 2025. He warned officials and concessionaires over recurring shortages that have disrupted the lives of millions of Filipinos. Declaring that “heads will roll” if the problems persisted, Marcos
Adiong: Those in conflict-hit areas won’t wait for threats to be bullets
MANILA, Philippines — How important is it that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) investigated Vice President Sara Duterte’s threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his relatives? According to Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, any person like him who hails from conflict-stricken areas would think that it was necessary to probe any threat
Nafarrete takes AFP helm amid renewed tensions with China
MANILA, Philippines — Amid worsening tensions with China in the West Philippine Sea, President Marcos on Tuesday reaffirmed the mandate of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to defend the country, with his appointment of Gen. Antonio Nafarrete as the new chief of staff. “The command entrusted to you is great, but the purpose is
Gov’t to aid kin of PH sailors killed in drone attacks
MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has directed the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to provide assistance to the families of two Filipino seafarers who were killed in recent drone attacks on ships operating in the northern Black Sea. The DMW is also investigating whether proper deployment and protection protocols for the seafarers were followed, including
Philippines taps combat veteran to lead armed forces amid regional tensions
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has appointed army chief Lieutenant General Antonio G. Nafarrete as the next head of the armed forces, placing a veteran of the country’s internal conflicts in charge before a sensitive election in the Muslim south and amid continued maritime tensions with China. The choice points to continuity in security policy and puts the Armed Forces of the Philippines under an officer whose career has been closely tied to Mindanao, which is preparing for its first...
Filipinler, Çin gerilimi ve iç seçim öncesi silahlı kuvvetlere deneyimli komutan atadıChinese loans to Philippines stay resilient despite maritime row
New findings on Chinese financing in the Philippines are challenging the assumption that Beijing reduced its funding under President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr because of worsening tensions in the South China Sea. Instead, Chinese capital has continued to support Filipino businesses in recent years, including a US$3.9 billion syndicated loan to telecommunications company Dito Telecommunity in 2023, the largest ever China-backed private-sector loan to the Philippines, AidData, a US-based research...
Marcos orders aid, DMW probes after 2 seafarers killed in Black Sea
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has directed the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to provide necessary assistance to the families of two Filipino seafarers who were killed in recent drone attacks on ships operating in the northern Black Sea. The DMW is also investigating whether proper deployment and protection protocols for the seafarers were
Marcos names new Philippine military head as China tensions rise
Under president Ferdinand Marcos, the Philippine military’s focus has shifted external defence to safeguarding the country’s claims in the South China Sea.
John Esposito, 86, showed how Islamophobia warped US policy
My former Georgetown professor, John Esposito, passed away on July 15, 2026, just as the military campaign between the U.S. and Iran reignited in what is becoming America’s “Third Gulf War.” It was America’s first Gulf War in 1991 that led me to read Esposito’s 1992 book, “The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?” I read that work to understand why the Western media portrayed my ancestral Iraq as part of a greater Muslim threat to the United States, as if America needed to create a civilizational enemy to replace the Soviet Union and Red Scare. Indeed, in that influential book, Esposito argued that Western representations of the Islamic world — and the tragic foreign policy decisions that resulted — were in part the distorted products of Islamophobia. Esposito was one of the foremost scholars of a pre-9/11 Islamophobia that I personally experienced, emerging as a result of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the 1991 Gulf War, the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, as well as the 1996 Oklahoma City bombings, for which Muslim Americans were initially blamed even though it was the work of Timothy McVeigh, a member of a right-wing militia. His 1992 work proved prescient. He rejected the term “Islamic fundamentalism,” for him a construct that emerged as part of the post-Cold War anxiety seeking a replacement for Communism. Reading the book now, one can draw enduring lessons about the path to America’s two-decade-long “War on Terror,” and its current conflict with Iran. Esposito’s clash with the “clash” Danny Postel, in an obituary for New Lines Magazine, argues that Esposito’s academic legacy served as a repudiation of that of the Princeton scholar Bernard Lewis, who claimed to explain “the roots of Muslim rage” and “what went wrong” in the Islamic world. Lewis was also responsible for coining a viral academic meme, “The Clash of Civilizations,” in his 1991 essay in response to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The term would later be adopted by Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington in his 1993 article and 1996 book of the same name. Esposito’s 1992 book, “The Islamic Threat,” was followed in 1993 by his role in establishing the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. What emerged on the East Coast was two intellectual currents that would compete in a post-Cold War world, particularly after 9/11. One focused on an essentialist reading of Islam and its inevitable conflict with the “West,” and another sought to deconstruct that very narrative. Studying with Esposito My father gifted me Esposito’s 1988 book, “Islam: The Straight Path.” As with everything he gifted me, he had used it before and raved about it. My father, born in the predominantly Muslim island of Zanzibar in 1935, had learned about his faith from Esposito, a man born in 1940 into a working-class Italian-American family in Brooklyn. Influenced by his devout Catholic mother and his father’s commitment to social justice — his household essentially embraced liberation theology — Esposito aspired to become a Catholic priest. He joined the Capuchin Franciscan Order as a youth, the same order whose distinctive white headdress gives us the name “cappuccino” because of its resemblance to the coffee’s white froth. He left seminary before ordination and went to graduate school, earning a doctorate in religious studies at Temple University under the Palestinian scholar Ismail al-Faruqi. His books inspired me to apply to Georgetown University to study under him during my master’s program, and I eventually became his research assistant. I will never forget one conversation in 1996, when I ranted in his office about how nobody inside the Washington Beltway was paying attention to the threat of a terrorist named Osama bin Laden, who had forged an alliance with another obscure group, the Taliban, in Afghanistan. I lamented that there were few institutions in Washington, whether in the State Department or at the university level, focused on or offering courses on Afghanistan that year. The ramifications of that lack of institutional knowledge would become apparent years later. When I graduated in 1998, my father’s dream was to meet Esposito. My father was the son of an ayatollah who was prominent among the Khoja Shi’a community of East Africa. My father lived up the street in Zanzibar’s Stone Town from Farrokh Bolsara, who later moved to the U.K. and changed his name to Freddie Mercury. Yet, for my father, it was Esposito who was his pop star. There, I gave Esposito a graduation gift: a necktie my mother made from a red-and-white kafiyya, the same style worn by Prince Waleed, the Saudi businessman and supporter of Esposito’s center at Georgetown. Just three years later, our field and lives were changed by the 9/11 attacks, followed by the war in Afghanistan, the 2003 Iraq War, the civil wars that followed the Arab Spring in 2011, the rise of the Islamic State in 2014, Israel’s 2023 wars, and America's Third Gulf War in 2026. While his books influenced me, it was his 2011 interview with John Feffer that has stayed with me. Speaking of the Obama administration, he said, “Look at the administration and tell me where you see significant senior Muslim appointments. They’re simply not there.” While I was a research assistant for Esposito, I was also part of the same White House intern intake in 1997 that included Huma Abedin, who would later become Hillary Clinton’s inseparable aide. Had Clinton won the election in 2016, Abedin would have been the most prominent Muslim in the White House. From that Khoja Shi’a community in East Africa that my grandfather used to preach to, a mayor of New York would emerge, Zohran Mamdani. I quoted from that same 2011 article in April 2026, in a lecture I gave at the Islamic Center of San Diego mosque, in reference to the 2010 controversy over the Cordoba House/Park 51 mosque, derisively called the “Ground Zero” mosque, that was never built in lower Manhattan, because of its proximity to the Twin Towers. It resulted in what Esposito called a “wave of anti-Muslim sentiment.” People vandalized mosques. A church congregation leader stood outside of a mosque shouting “Murder!” and “Jesus hates Muslims.” These creeps came out into the daylight because they felt that they could do it, that it was not politically incorrect to do it. Indeed, his comments were prescient; figures from President Donald Trump to university presidents promoted or allowed Islamophobia to flourish in the media, even on our university campuses. Esposito finally established The Bridge Initiative to document Islamophobia, making the professor a cartographer of this hate. Tragically, the most recent Islamophobic attack documented by this program was an attack in May on the very mosque I lectured at earlier this year; two teenagers attacked it, killing three people. They said they were inspired by a nursing student from my very own campus, Cal State San Marcos, who himself attacked a local mosque and synagogue in 2019. Esposito’s work was relevant, from San Diego to the Gulf, up to his death.
Marcos meets US envoys to PH, India ahead of 2nd Quad meeting in Manila
MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday welcomed newly appointed United States Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Lipton and US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor to Malacañang. The courtesy call aimed to further strengthen regional cooperation, economic ties, and digital trade, according to Malacañang. “President Marcos and the two American envoys reaffirmed their