In his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 26, President Rodrigo Duterte falsely claimed the 2016 arbitral award, which nullified China’s expansive nine-dash line claim over the South China Sea, does not bind Beijing.
Duterte said: “I did not know I was fighting my own government. Customs and everyone else was facilitating the import[ation] of drugs … That’s why I go crazy looking at the situation."
Six months after vehement declarations that she had no intention to run for president in the 2022 elections, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has said she is now open to the possibility of succeeding her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, in Malacañang.
In six days, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) retracted its resolution allowing local government units to accept vaccination cards or certificates of quarantine completion of fully vaccinated domestic travelers as “sufficient alternative[s]” to COVID-19 tests before travel or upon arrival at the destination.
Palace Spokesperson Harry Roque’s claim that “only” President Rodrigo Duterte has given the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) two brand new frigates as part of the military’s modernization program needs context.
Palace Spokesperson Harry Roque claimed without evidence that Jose Maria “Joma” Sison, founding chairperson of the Communist Party of the Philippines, was among those who submitted a communication to the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding the killings in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.
The Philippine News Agency (PNA), a state-run newswire service, reported that the Philippines ranked 2nd in Southeast Asia in terms of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination rollout. Its basis was a comparison of the number of vaccines administered per country in the region.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque twisted Vice President Leni Robredo’s positive reaction to a senator’s proposal for her to appear with President Rodrigo Duterte in an informative commercial (infomercial) to help boost public confidence in the vaccine against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
As the Philippine government continues to roll out coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines to its target of 70 million people, anti-vaccine advocates shared a social media post in May wrongly claiming COVID-19 vaccines contain fetal tissue.
Shifting gears in just two days, President Rodrigo Duterte backed out from his challenge to debate with retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio about the withdrawal of Philippine Navy ships during the 2012 maritime standoff at Scarborough Shoal between China and the Philippines, as well as the latter's 2016 win at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).
