the Philippines

2.3 million overseas Filipino workers are adamant on staying put, in the face of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Rodrigo Duterte and his backers appears to be exploiting the public health crisis to wedge opponents at home.

A general distrust in Philippine president Duterte's ability to handle the coronavirus outbreak has sparked protest both on social media and in the streets.

The Philippines are preparing to jump into a manic building spree, backed by Chinese investments. The relocation of the native inhabitants seems like an afterthought.

Officials in the Philippines initially came on strong demanding China be sanctioned for an incident at Recto Bank, while Duterte kept his lips sealed. Days later Duterte finally dismissed the whole thing as 'a little maritime accident' and the administration fell in line, much to the ire of citizens. But — asks Michael Beltran — who is pulling whose strings here?

A weekly roundup of the region's most important news.

'The story of Butbut tribe and the peoples of Cordillera provides us a picture of why resistance and solidarity, albeit rarely presented in mainstream media reports, remain relevant these days.'

'Music is an extension of the self. It’s an extension of our activism which is why our music is so overtly political. We wouldn’t be able to write the songs that we write without being activists,' says the drummer of The General Strike.

'The Philippines is a country that is under a lot of attention. But the attention it gets is very one-sided,' says 23-year-old Jun Lin, one of the three working on the project. 'After Duterte took office, we have been seeing a lot of news coverage on the Philippines, but it’s all about what Duterte said.'

'This music, for all intents and purposes, can never be confined to itself. It, alongside the creators, needs to be projected outward and engaged in serving the oppressed.'

Never has the government and its shelter agencies faced such a confrontation with its poorest citizens.

It is less a question of modernity and more about profiting from the plight of millions under the disguise of 'progress.'

Have we wanted this type of entertainment all along? Is our thirst for violent entertainment getting out of hand? Have we been betrayed by the television and internet media in the long run?

Improved government relations with fiery Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte are key to securing dominance in the South China Sea.

It has been a year of tectonic change in the Philippines.

Juan Paolo Verzosa, his wife and hundreds like them are being used as a bargaining chip for the state to gain the upper hand in ongoing peace negotiation in the Philippines.

How might Duterte's plans pressure Taiwan?

Decades have passed since Ferdinand Marcos' Martial Law, but the much of the Philippines still lives in terror.