Philippines

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Militiaman Says He Killed Dozens on Duterte's Orders

One victim was fed to a crocodile

(Newser) - A former Filipino militiaman testified before the country's Senate on Thursday that President Rodrigo Duterte, when he was still a city mayor, ordered him and other members of a liquidation squad to kill criminals and opponents in gangland-style assaults that left about 1,000 dead. Edgar Matobato, 57, told...

Duterte Wants US Forces Out of the Philippines

He makes first public statement opposing the presence of US troops

(Newser) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday he wants US forces out of his country's south and blamed America for inflaming Muslim insurgencies in the region, in his first public statement opposing the presence of American troops, the AP reports. Washington, however, said it had not received a formal request...

Obama, Duterte Meet Face-to-Face
Obama, Duterte
Meet Face-to-Face
Sep 8, 2016 3:46 AM CDT

Obama, Duterte Meet Face-to-Face

They exchanged 'pleasantries' before dinner

(Newser) - President Obama and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte met informally on Wednesday in a holding room before attending a gala dinner at a regional summit, Philippine officials say. The brief meeting took a little sting out of the soured relations caused by Duterte's intemperate language in referring to Obama earlier...

Duterte Regrets His 'Strong Comments' on Obama

'I do not want to quarrel with the most powerful country on the planet'

(Newser) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte expressed regret Tuesday over his "son of a bitch" remark while referring to President Obama, a move the AP calls "a rare display of contrition by a politician whose wide arc of profanities has unabashedly targeted world figures." In a statement, Duterte said...

Fisherman Has Craziest Pearl Tale You'll Ever Hear

If it's legit, he found the world's biggest

(Newser) - There are fish tales, and now there's this doozy of a pearl tale from a fisherman in the Philippines. If it turns out to be true, the world has a new largest pearl, by a mile. As first reported by the Palawan News , the unidentified man says he was...

1.8K Dead in Philippines' War on Drugs

Rodrigo Duterte's crackdown draws more critics, human rights groups

(Newser) - Seven weeks into Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs and crime, nearly 1,800 people are dead and human rights groups are outraged, Time reports. Officials had previously placed the death toll from the drug crackdown at 900, but the national police chief told a Senate hearing on...

In Profanity-Laced Tirade, Duterte Says He'll Leave 'Stupid' UN

Philippines prez goes on a tear amid criticism

(Newser) - The Philippines' brash-talking president threatened Sunday to withdraw his country from the United Nations and lashed out at US police killings of black men in his latest outburst against critics of his anti-drug campaign, which the AP reports has left hundreds of suspects dead. In an angry news conference that...

10 Killed, Warden Hurt in Suspected Jailbreak

Grenade went off inside Manila-area facility

(Newser) - Officials in the Philippines say 10 inmates died in a suspected grenade blast that rocked a jail Thursday night. Senior Inspector Xavier Solda, spokesman for the Bureau of Jail Management, says an initial investigation suggests the inmates, including two Chinese nationals facing drug charges, had sought to talk with the...

'I Will Whack You:' Duterte Links 150 Officials to Drugs

Latest salvo in Philippine president's war on 'pandemic'

(Newser) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte publicly linked more than 150 judges, mayors, lawmakers, police, and military personnel to illegal drugs Sunday, ordering them to surrender for investigation as he ratcheted up his bloody war against what he calls a "pandemic." Duterte promptly relieved members of the military and police...

Cops, Vigilantes Kill Hundreds in Philippines Crackdown

Rights groups believe dozens are being killed daily

(Newser) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte appears to be making progress in the war on crime he promised when he took office a month ago—as long as murder isn't considered a crime. The Guardian reports that more than 700 people suspected of dealing or using drugs have been killed since...

Beijing Defiant After Tribunal Rejects South Sea Claims

China plans to ignore South China Sea ruling

(Newser) - An international tribunal ruled unanimously Tuesday that there is no legal basis for China's "nine-dash line" claiming rights to much of the South China Sea. The panel of legal experts in the Hague said that any historic rights to resources that China may have had were wiped out...

Win for 'the Punisher': Giant $19M Meth Bust

Early victory for Rodrigo Duterte in quest to stamp out drugs, crime

(Newser) - Philippine police have seized about 400 pounds of high-grade methamphetamine worth $19.2 million, officials said Monday, in a major haul for the government of new President Rodrigo Duterte. Nicknamed "the Punisher," Duterte has bluntly promised to wipe out crime and corruption within six months. National Police chief...

Philippines 'Punisher' Sworn in, Vows 'I'll Kill' Criminals

Drug suspects now have 'right to remain silent—forever'

(Newser) - Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in Thursday as president of the Philippines, with some hoping his maverick style will energize the country, but others fearing he will undercut one of Asia's liveliest democracies amid threats to kill criminals en masse . The 71-year-old former prosecutor and longtime mayor of southern Davao...

Militants Behead 2nd Canadian Hostage
Militants Behead
2nd Canadian Hostage
Jun 14, 2016 12:32 AM CDT

Militants Behead 2nd Canadian Hostage

Captors in the Philippines demanded huge ransom

(Newser) - Philippine officials confirmed Tuesday that Abu Sayyaf militants beheaded a Canadian man, the second Canadian hostage to be killed in two months after demands for a large ransom were not met. The hostage, Robert Hall, was abducted from a marina last September along with another Canadian, a Norwegian, and a...

Facebook Blunder Implies Philippines Is at War

Oh, and happy Independence Day

(Newser) - The Philippines is at war—according to Facebook. The social media site accidentally posted a banner celebrating Independence Day in the Philippines on Sunday with an image of the Philippine flag upside down, per the Philippine Star . As several users pointed out, Philippine law requires that the flag be displayed...

Philippines' 'Punisher' Tells Public to Kill Drug Dealers

'I will kill you, don't take this as a joke,' says president-elect Rodrigo Duterte

(Newser) - The Philippine president-elect has encouraged the public to help him in his war against crime, urging citizens with guns to shoot and kill drug dealers who resist arrest and fight back in their neighborhoods, reports the AP . In a televised speech Saturday, Rodrigo Duterte told a huge crowd that Filipinos...

Manny Pacquiao Is Now a Senator

Bid for Philippine presidency could be next

(Newser) - Boxing great Manny Pacquiao has won a seat in the Philippine Senate based on an unofficial count and is set to be proclaimed Thursday with other senatorial winners, bringing him closer to a possible crack at the presidency. The 37-year-old Filipino slugger has garnered more than 15.5 million votes...

'The Punisher' Wins Philippine Election

His campaign promises included forgetting about human rights

(Newser) - Rodrigo Duterte, the bombastic mayor of a major southern city, was heralded Tuesday as president-elect of the Philippines after an incendiary and populist campaign that projected him alternatively as an emancipator and a looming dictator, the AP reports. The 71-year-old, whose nicknames include "The Punisher" and "Asia's...

'Asia's Trump' Says He'll Kill Criminals, Pardon Himself

Filipino front-runner promises a bloody presidency

(Newser) - Filipino presidential front-runner Rodrigo Duterte focused on two things in a speech this week: his plan to end crime by killing tens of thousands of criminals, and his penis. The Davao City mayor, who has been nicknamed "Asia's Donald Trump," promised business leaders that his presidency "...

Militants Behead Canadian Hostage
Militants Behead
Canadian Hostage
Apr 26, 2016 12:52 AM CDT

Militants Behead Canadian Hostage

He was kidnapped in the Philippines 7 months ago

(Newser) - The head of a Canadian man kidnapped by militants in the Philippines was dumped on a street Monday after a deadline to deliver an $8 million ransom expired. John Ridsdel, a 68-year-old mining consultant from Saskatchewan, was seized by Abu Sayyaf militants in a raid on an isolated resort last...

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