Who is he? Rodrigo Duterte is the mayor of Davao city in the southern Philippines, a position he has held off-and-on for 21 years. Under Duterte’s tenure, Davao went from one of the Philippines’ least safe cities to one of…
By Richard Javad Heydarian The 70th anniversary of the end of Second World War has transformed into a critical juncture for Asia, particularly in Northeast Asia where Japan, China, and the Korean Peninsula still grapple with a traumatic past. Despite…
By John Juenemann In light of China’s aggressive posturing in the South China Sea, the Philippines has stepped up defense cooperation with a number of other countries that share its concerns about China, including Australia, Japan, the United States, and…
By Phuong Nguyen & John Juenemann President Benigno Aquino used his final State of the Nation Address on July 27 to cement his legacy of anticorruption efforts and track record of revamping the once-sluggish Philippine economy. While Aquino has played…
On the podcast this week we take a broader look at developments in the Philippines. Sumitro Chair Fellow Gregory Poling joins to discuss the candidates for next year’s election and what challenges Manila faces in ensuring both economic growth and…
Who is he? Lieutenant General Hernando Iriberri is the new chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Iriberri entered military service in 1983 after graduating from the Philippine Military Academy and steadily climbed through the ranks. As…
By Rene P. Acosta Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin on June 24 disclosed that the Philippines is in discussions with Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia on crafting a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which it hopes will eventually be signed with…
The Philippines’ most credible deterrent to China’s stepped-up unilateral actions in the South China Sea is under the pen of Maria Lourdes Sereno, the chief justice of the Philippine Supreme Court. Sereno has been tasked with writing the decision of…
By Jay L. Batongbacal Philippine media went into a minor frenzy with the startling news that Manila purportedly offered Kuala Lumpur a quid pro quo in March: dropping the Philippine claim to North Borneo (Malaysia’s Sabah State) in exchange…
By Zachary Abuza The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) recently released their 2014 database, which shows robust growth in defense spending throughout Southeast Asia. Though the SIPRI data only goes through 2014, when at least two countries have already…