April 2024
Australia to join stepped-up patrols in South China Sea: US
The move follows historic joint naval exercises last weekend to push back on China’s aggression in the waterway, which sparked anger in Chinese media.
- Steve Holland and David Brunnstrom
March 2024
- Opinion
- ASEAN
Trust Paul Keating to interrupt ASEAN’s polite summit rhetoric
Labor is confident it can sell greater engagement and business investment with South-East Asia, no matter what the former prime minister thinks of its approach to China.
- Jennifer Hewett
February 2024
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Philippines partners Australia on peace, stability and success in Asia
President Marcos’s speech is in keeping with the tightening network of Asian nations who are keen to keep the US engaged and are suspicious of Beijing’s intentions.
- The AFR View
November 2023
- Opinion
- South China Sea
Row with Manila reflects Beijing’s disregard for small state agency
Beijing is not ready to acknowledge that Manila, or any other South-East Asian claimant, has legitimate grievances that must be addressed to peacefully manage disputes.
- Gregory Poling and Jude Blanchette
Protesters converge ahead of Xi-Biden meeting
Representatives of more than 100 grassroots groups have gathered in San Francisco to demonstrate against a meeting of 21 heads of state.
- Janie Har and Haven Daley
September 2023
Albanese upgrades ties with Philippines in show of solidarity on China
Anthony Albanese went out of his way to the Philippines and explicitly expressed Australia’s support for the country’s position on the disputed South China Sea.
- Phillip Coorey
July 2023
EU leader pays rare visit to Philippines after stormy period
Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Manila on Sunday night for the first such top-level visit in almost six decades of relations with the Asian nation.
- Jim Gomez
November 2022
Kamala Harris visits contested South China Sea island
The US vice president pledged to defend the Philippines if it came under attack in the waterway, reaffirming Washington’s “unwavering” commitment to its former colony.
- Karen Lema
May 2022
- Opinion
- World politics
Marcos win confirms return of ‘disciplinary state’ to South-East Asia
Election results in South-East Asia’s big three electoral regimes suggest the benign technocracy of a previous generation of leaders has fallen out of fashion.
- Updated
- Liam Gammon
Father, son and the hunt for the missing Marcos billions
For more than 30 years, a Philippine government agency has chased the Marcos family and its cronies for stolen cash. Soon that family will be in charge of its operation.
- Emma Connors
Dictator’s son tipped to become president as Philippines votes
The next Philippine president will succeed the tough-talking populist Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs left thousands dead.
- Regine Cabato
- Explainer
- World elections
His father died in exile. Now another Marcos may be president
The Philippines is on the verge of electing the son of a dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, and the daughter of strongman Rodrigo Duterte. Here’s what you need to know about today’s election.
- Updated
- Emma Connors
Army in pink reminds Filipinos why Marcos is a name to dread
Hundreds of thousands turned out in Manila in a desperate effort to keep the former dictator’s son, ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, out of the presidential palace.
- Emma Connors
Two united Filipino dynasties tipped to put dictator’s son in power
Ferdinand Marcos Jnr is expected to return his family to power in the Philippines’ presidential elections, 36 years after his dictator father was forced into exile.
- Emma Connors
February 2022
- Exclusive
- Rural property
Mudgee wagyu farm owned by Ferdinand Marcos crony fetches $17m
Eduardo Cojuangco jnr developed and expanded the Gooree Park operations after he was forced into exile in 1986 following the ousting of the Marcos regime.
- Larry Schlesinger
January 2022
Duterte successor candidates adjust their China policies
The next Philippines president will come under tremendous pressure to adopt calibrated assertiveness on South China Sea disputes, but also a measure of geopolitical pragmatism in relations with China.
- Richard Javad Heydarian
The Bongbong bounce: Marcos Jnr has the Philippines in thrall
He’s the son of an infamous kleptocrat but Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jnr has a big lead in the race to become the country’s next President.
- Emma Connors
July 2021
Where did Ferdinand Marcos hide his $14b fortune?
Despite many accusations against the former Philippine president and a 35-year hunt to uncover his billions, the Marcoses are more popular now than in decades.
- Haley Gilliland
June 2021
Benigno Aquino, son of Philippine democracy icons, dies at 61
A namesake of his father, whose 1983 assassination at Manila’s international airport sparked an uprising that toppled the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship three years later, Aquino was the Philippines’ 15th president.
- Karen Lema
April 2021
- Opinion
- Populism
Duterte moves to shore up his post-election influence
The Philippines’ populist leader is likely to pull out all the stops to aid the victory next year of a political ally, who would allow him to retain influence and protect him from accountability for his abuses of power.
- Liam Gammon