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Category: Commentary

  • An Unmanned underwater vehicle. U.S. Navy photo
    Categories Commentary South China Sea: Waters of Contention

    Who is protecting PH national interest in South China Sea?

    By Ellen Tordesillas  |  Dec 19, 2016 12:37 PM

    A tense situation transpired 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay in Zambales last Thursday when China seized the underwater drone installed by the United States Navy. Philippine top officials were unconcerned about it.

    China, U.S.

  • VFDuterte and Yasay.jpg
    Categories Commentary

    Yasay as BSP governor?

    By Ellen Tordesillas  |  Dec 09, 2016 1:29 PM

    Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr is being considered to be governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

    amlc, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, perfecto Yasay

  • Duterte calls Trump.jpg
    Categories Commentary

    The invitation to the White House that never was

    By Ellen Tordesillas  |  Dec 05, 2016 2:06 PM

    President Duterte must be euphoric after the seven-minute phone conversation with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump Friday night, he thought the latter invited him to visit the United States.

    duterte-trump

  • Categories Commentary Editor's Pick South China Sea: Waters of Contention

    PH authorities knew of Subi Reef lighthouse construction 5 years ago

    Apr 08, 2016 6:04 AM

        By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS   CHINA has started the operations of a lighthouse in Subi Reef, The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported Tuesday. Xinhua said the 55-meter high lighthouse contains technology to monitor passing ships. The Philippines should be very concerned. Subi Reef is the nearest China- occupied feature in the disputed Spratlys […]


  • Categories Commentary Editor's Pick

    EDSA at 30: A country run like hell

    By Jose Bayani D. Baylon  |  Feb 24, 2016 10:13 PM

    So it’s been thirty years since I and my UP law classmates marched up and down EDSA, from Santolan to Ortigas, as we expressed our collective desire for change.Thirty years since I was at Gate 1 of Camp Aguinaldo in the early hours of February 23, wanting to go inside to visit my boss, Assemblyman […]

    Edsa 30

  • Categories Commentary Editor's Pick South China Sea: Waters of Contention

    UN Arbitral Panel Rules In Favor of the Philippines: Now What?

    By ROBERTO R. ROMULO  |  Nov 07, 2015 6:37 PM

    Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario’s dogged determination to pursue the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea dispute through the rule of law has proven his approach correct. The court ruled that the case was “properly constituted” under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, that China’s “non-appearance” (i.e., refusal to participate) did not […]

    South China Sea, spratlys, UN Arbitral Court

  • Categories Commentary Editor's Pick South China Sea: Waters of Contention

    A wealth of stories from the Murillo-Velarde map

    By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS  |  Jun 11, 2015 4:35 PM

    LOOKING at the almost 300- year-old Philippine map by Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde which businessman Mel Velarde acquired for P12 million in an auction in London last year, one can see that the Jesuit priest is a great storyteller.

    Alnwick Castle, mel Velarde, Murillo Velarde map

  • Categories Commentary South China Sea: Waters of Contention

    Why the Philippines did not build lighthouses in Spratlys

    May 29, 2015 6:40 PM

    By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS LONG before China built lighthouses in reefs they are occupying in the disputed Spratlys, the Philippine government under President Fidel Ramos had planned to build lighthouses in Reed Bank and two other reefs but inter-government wrangling over money stalled the project until it was overtaken by events. Last Tuesday, China announced […]

    spratlys

  • Categories Commentary Editor's Pick

    EDCA minus Gazmin’s illusions

    By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS  |  Dec 03, 2014 9:16 AM

    DEFENSE Secretary Voltaire Gazmin had no choice but to say what EDCA, the agreement he signed with the United States Ambassador Philip Goldberg last April 28, really is under strict questioning by Sen. Miriam Santiago, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

    EDCA

  • Categories Commentary Editor's Pick South China Sea: Waters of Contention

    BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin shoal: Test for MDT

    By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS  |  Mar 18, 2014 10:22 PM

    THE rising tension at the Ayungin shoal, just 21 nautical miles from Mischief Reef where China has built fortifications, could be a test on the usefulness of the 1951 PH-US Mutual Defense Treaty In its statement issued last Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said:  “The BRP Sierra Madre, a commissioned Philippine Naval Vessel, was […]

    Ayungin Shoal, BRP Sierra Madre, MDT

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