Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath undertook an inspection tour of the PHIVIDEC Industrial Estate in the Philippines to assess the progress of Sri Lankan investments established there.

Two leading Sri Lankan companies, Haycarb PLC and Jaindi Exports, have invested in projects within the PHIVIDEC zone, reflecting the growing confidence of Sri Lanka’s business sector in the Philippines’ investment‑friendly environment.

Minister Herath noted that the opportunities available in the Philippines highlight the strengthening trust of Sri Lankan enterprises in expanding their global footprint.

The visit coincided with the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and the Philippines, a milestone underscoring both nations’ commitment to further deepening trade and investment ties, while also enhancing people‑to‑people relations. (Newswire)

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People in the Philippines are increasingly installing rooftop solar panels to cut soaring electricity bills, making the country the world’s biggest spender of solar panels since the conflict in Iran began.

Power distributor Meralco has raised electricity rates by about 10% since the Middle East conflict started in late February. The Philippines has the highest residential electricity prices in Southeast Asia and provides few power subsidies, making rooftop solar more attractive despite high upfront costs.

Adrian Sabatera, a 39-year-old software engineer, had considered installing solar panels for years but only recently decided to invest P570,000 ($9,300) in a rooftop system for the home he shares with three others.

“I wouldn’t be shocked if a third of the middle-class population eventually finds their way to this setup,” Sabatera said.

The surge in demand has driven imports of Chinese solar panels to $407 million in the three months through May, up 145% from a year earlier, according to Chinese trade data.

Demand is also rising for installers. Philergy German Solar said customer inquiries in the first five months of the year were more than two-and-a-half times higher than a year earlier.

Analysts at energy think tank Ember expect distributed rooftop solar capacity in the Philippines to nearly triple to 3,500 megawatts within two years as falling equipment costs and rising electricity prices shorten payback periods.

However, widespread adoption continues to face obstacles, including high upfront costs, supply bottlenecks and limited access to government-backed financing, which excludes private-sector workers. (ABS CBN)

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Two people opened fire in a high school in the central Philippines on Monday (Jun 22), killing three teenage students and wounding another seven, police officials said.

Two suspects have been taken into custody, police said, one of whom is a student at San Jose National High School, in the city of Tacloban in Leyte province, where the shooting happened, according to police. Both are male and were armed with pistols.

The two alleged shooters, aged 15 and 14, had fired “randomly” inside the school, police Lieutenant Evalyn Diaz told AFP of the incident, which took place at around 9am. 

One of the two guns used belonged to a police officer, an official said. 

“The 9mm Glock (pistol) belongs or was issued to a policewoman assigned in (the Eastern Visayas region),” said national police spokesman Allen Rae Co, who added the officer had been taken into custody and was now under investigation.

The other weapon, a .38 calibre pistol, was registered to a security agency in Cebu City, he said.

A video widely circulated by local media, verified by AFP, showed panicked children screaming and crying while hiding inside a classroom amid the sound of gunfire.

“We are hearing bullying was the motive behind their actions, but we have yet to ask them,” Diaz said of the ongoing questioning of the boys arrested in the shooting’s aftermath.

“We also have yet to establish the sequence of events,” she said then. “They are still in the police station undergoing questioning in the presence of their parents because they are minors.”

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has ordered a thorough investigation into the shooting.

“The president is saddened by the incident,” his office said in a statement, adding that Marcos directed authorities to ensure safety and security in all areas, offices and establishments, especially schools. 

Tacloban police chief Noelito Getigan told reporters one suspect, a minor and Grade 9 student, was arrested shortly after the incident, while the other later surrendered to authorities.

There was no immediate update on the status of the wounded students.

“The victims were immediately transported to nearby medical facilities for treatment and appropriate medical intervention,” regional police said earlier.

The Philippine Department of Education issued a statement calling it a “high-alert situation”.

“Our Central Office officials, alongside regional and division office personnel, are active on the ground, coordinating closely with school authorities and law enforcement to secure the premises,” it said.

The government-run school has more than 1,500 students. 

“We urge the public to remain calm, refrain from disseminating unverified information and cooperate with authorities by providing any information that may aid the ongoing investigation,” the national police said in a statement.

Crimes involving the use of firearms are prevalent in the Philippines, partly due to the proliferation of unlicensed firearms, but school shootings are relatively rare.

In July 2022, a gunman opened fire at an Ateneo de Manila University law school graduation ceremony in Quezon City, killing three people, including former Lamitan City mayor Rose Furigay. (CNA)

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The death toll from a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in the southern Philippines has reached at least 15, with more than 100 people injured, disaster agency officials said.

The quake struck off the southern island of Mindanao on Monday (Jun 8), collapsing buildings and sparking tsunami warnings across the region.

Philippine authorities urged people in affected coastal regions to move to higher ground after the offshore quake hit south of General Santos, a city of about 720,000.

A series of powerful aftershocks rocked the area from about two hours after the first quake, according to the United States Geological Survey, with the largest measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a notice that tsunami waves were possible “within the next three hours” along the coasts of the Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Taiwan and Papua New Guinea.

Police Major Roland Catoburan told AFP two people had been crushed to death by a collapsing wall in Alabel, a municipality near General Santos City.

“We have casualties. A wall fell on them,” he said, adding officers were not being allowed to re-enter their stations, some of which now had cracked walls.

Master Sergeant Robert Dagon of the General Santos City police separately confirmed another reported death and four injuries.

“Many buildings were affected, but I cannot enumerate them now because we are busy with ongoing rescues,” Dagon said.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos suspended school classes in affected areas of Mindanao while calling on residents in coastal areas to evacuate immediately.

The country’s national disaster agency said reports of casualties were “still being verified”.

The airport in General Santos was also closed until further notice, officials said.

Monday’s quake triggered evacuation warnings for coastal areas of neighbouring Indonesia and Malaysia, with both nations subsequently lifting their alert.

Japanese authorities issued a tsunami advisory for swathes of its Pacific coast, projecting waves of up to 1m to hit different regions from 11.30 am. (CNA)

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Gunshots have been heard inside the Senate of the Philippines as tensions escalate over a planned arrest of a top senator.

Witnesses reported multiple shots on Wednesday, sending journalists and others scrambling for cover as armed personnel moved through the building.

What happened at the Senate?

More than 10 soldiers in camouflage had earlier entered the complex, some carrying assault rifles, though it remained unclear who fired the shots or why troops were deployed.

The incident comes as Senator Ronald dela Rosa, a key figure in former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, faces a possible arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Dela Rosa, who has been sheltering in his office since Monday, said his arrest was imminent and called on supporters to mobilize to block any attempt to transfer him to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity.

Dela Rosa urged “my fellow men in uniform” and former classmates at the Philippine Military Academy, to “express their sentiment” that President Ferdinand Marcos’s government “should not hand me over to foreigners.”

Why is Dela Rosa wanted by the ICC?

Dela Rosa was national police chief in 2016-2018, during Duterte’s first two years in office and acted as his chief drug war enforcer.

He is better known by his nickname “Bato,” meaning “Rock.” 

Human rights monitors say the crackdown left thousands dead, many of them drug users and low-level narcotics sellers. He denies involvement in ​illegal killing and insists that a transfer to the ⁠ICC would be illegal, because the country is no longer a signatory.

As president, Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2018 after its ⁠prosecutor announced a preliminary examination into his anti-drugs ​campaign had begun. Alleged crimes committed while a country was a member of the ICC are, according to the court, still under its jurisdiction.

On Monday, the Philippine lower house of parliament voted to advance impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte, daughter of the former president. Duterte himself is already in the Hague awaiting trial at the ICC.

Bato was previously the City Director of the Davao City Police under both Sara Duterte and her father when he succeeded her as that city’s mayor in 2013. (DW)

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The Philippines says grounding planes due to a shortage of jet fuel brought on by the war in Iran is a “distinct possibility”, according to President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr.

“Several countries have already told our airlines they cannot fuel their aircraft, so they have to carry fuel there and back,” Marcos said in an interview on Tuesday. 

“Long haul is going to be a much more serious problem.”

Asked whether, inevitably, planes may have to be grounded, Marcos said, “We’re hoping not, but it’s a distinct possibility.” (SCMP)

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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has declared a state of emergency after typhoon Kalmaegi left at least 114 people dead and nearly 130 missing in central provinces in the deadliest natural disaster to hit the country this year.

The deaths were mostly from drowning in flash floods, and 127 people were still missing, many in the hard-hit central province of Cebu. The tropical cyclone blew out of the archipelago on Wednesday into the South China Sea.

The typhoon’s onslaught affected nearly 2 million people and displaced more than 560,000 villagers, including nearly 450,000 who were evacuated to emergency shelters, the office of civil defence said.

Marcos’s “state of national calamity” declaration, made during a meeting with disaster-response officials to assess the typhoon’s aftermath on Thursday, would allow the government to disburse emergency funds faster and prevent food hoarding and overpricing.

While still dealing with the deadly and disastrous impact of Kalmaegi in the country’s central region, disaster-response officials warned that another tropical cyclone from the Pacific could strengthen into a super typhoon and batter the northern Philippines early next week.

Among the dead attributed by officials to Kalmaegi were six people who were killed when a Philippine air force helicopter crashed in the southern province of Agusan del Sur on Tuesday. The crew was on its way to provide humanitarian help to provinces battered by the typhoon, the military said. It did not give the cause of the crash.

Kalmaegi set off flash floods and caused a river and other waterways to swell in Cebu province. The resulting flooding engulfed residential communities, forcing residents to climb on their roofs, where they desperately pleaded to be rescued as the flood waters rose, provincial officials said.

At least 71 people died in Cebu, mostly due to drownings, while 65 others were reported missing and 69 injured, the office of civil defence said.

It added that 62 others were reported missing in the central province of Negros Occidental, which is located near Cebu.

“We did everything we can for the typhoon but, you know, there are really some unexpected things like flash floods,” Cebu’s governor, Pamela Baricuatro, said by phone.

The problems may have been made worse by years of quarrying that caused clogging of nearby rivers, which overflowed, and substandard flood control projects in Cebu province, Baricuatro said.

A corruption scandal involving substandard or non-existent flood control projects across the Philippines has sparked public outrage and street protests in recent months.

Cebu was still recovering from a 6.9 magnitude earthquake on 30 September that left at least 79 people dead and displaced thousands when houses collapsed or were severely damaged.

Ferries and fishing boats were prohibited from venturing out to increasingly rough seas during the typhoon, stranding more than 3,500 passengers and cargo truck drivers in nearly 100 seaports, the coast guard said. At least 186 domestic flights were canceled.

The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons and storms each year. The country also is often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. (The Guardian)

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The Philippines and some regions of Indonesia have issued a tsunami warning, urging coastal communities to evacuate after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck offshore in the southern Philippines

The strong quake struck at a depth of 23 kilometres (14 miles) at 9:43am local time (01:43 GMT) on Friday, according to the US National Tsunami Warning Centre.

The centre warned the earthquake could trigger waves of up to 1-3 metres above tide level along the coast of the Philippines, and waves of 0.3 to 1 metres above tide level in parts of Indonesia and Palau.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology “strongly advised” people living in coastal communities in the southern and central Philippines to evacuate to higher ground, as waves of more than 1 metre were expected to hit the area.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr – popularly known as Bongbong Marcos – said that the Philippine government was “assessing the situation on the ground and ensuring that everyone is safe”.

“I have directed the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the Office of Civil Defense, the Armed Forces, the Philippine Coast Guard, and all concerned agencies to immediately carry out evacuations in coastal areas, activate emergency communication lines, and coordinate closely with local governments,” Marcos said, according to the Inquirer, a leading media organisation in the Philippines.

Indonesia’s northern Sulawesi and Papua regions also issued tsunami warnings that waves as high as 50cm (1.6ft) could hit coastal areas, according to Reuters.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in the Philippines following the earthquake, but videos shared on social media show damage to infrastructure.

The United States National Tsunami Warning Center said that tsunami waves can persist for many hours after the first wave hits, and the impact will vary depending on the shape and elevation of the local shoreline. (Al Jazeera)

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A powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the central Philippines late Tuesday, killing more than 20 people and raising fears of considerable destruction.

The shallow earthquake struck around 10 p.m. local time, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), just west of Palompon and close to the city of Bogo in Cebu province.

A quake of this strength in the region could cause casualties and damage to poorly built structures, early survey models suggest.

Cebu Governor Pam Baricuatro said in a post on Facebook that “a total of 27 individuals were reported dead and 143 others sustained various injuries” after the quake.

Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, said in a telephone interview that at least 13 people, including three members of the Philippine Coast Guard and one firefighter, died in the town of San Remigio when a sports complex collapsed during a basketball game.

Red Cross paramedics treated at least 60 people for injuries in three provinces, he said.

“Some churches partially collapsed, and some schools had to be evacuated,” Gordon said. “This was a sleeper,” he said of the late-night quake. “It crept up on us.”

Footage shared on social media from Cebu province showed a fire breaking out at a mall due to the earthquake, as well as a badly damaged McDonald’s. Beauty pageant contestants were seen in another video running off the stage as the earthquake started.

The Philippine Red Cross said there were reports at schools in Cebu of debris, cracks in buildings and a temporary power failure.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), which recorded multiple aftershocks close to the epicenter in the hours after the initial earthquake, canceled a tsunami alert for Leyte, Biliran and Cebu provinces early Wednesday local time.

A minor eruption from the country’s Taal volcano, about 70 km (45 miles) south of central Manila, was also recorded by Phivolcs. It stated that the eruption produced a 2,500-meter-high plume that drifted northwest, but the alert level remains at Level 1.

Governor Baricuatro urged residents to remain calm in a social media video, saying the presidential office confirmed to her it will send immediate aid to Cebu. “Know that the provincial government is doing its best. Help is coming,” she said.

The Medellin municipality in Cebu added in its Facebook post that classes have been suspended until further notice, and work has been suspended until facilities and buildings are assessed.

More than half a million people felt very strong shaking across the Visayan Islands, which include Cebu, Biliran and Leyte, according to estimates from the USGS.

Very strong shaking will bring “considerable damage in poorly built or badly designed structures” as well as “slight to moderate damage in well-built ordinary structures,” according to the USGS.

The Philippines sits along the Ring of Fire, a 25,000-mile (40,000-kilometer) arc of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean that hosts more than half of the world’s volcanoes.

In 2022, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in northern Luzon, the country’s most populous island, killed at least five and injured over 100 people. In 2019, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake, also in Luzon, killed at least 11. (CNN)

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Former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has been charged with three counts of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which alleges that he played a role in the murders of at least 76 people during his so-called “war on drugs”.

The charges against the 80-year-old, who has been held in a detention facility in the Netherlands since March, are set out in a document that was published by the ICC on Monday.

They relate in part to the anti-drug crackdown Duterte led when he was president, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of alleged narcotics dealers and users.

The heavily redacted ICC charge sheet, which is dated from early July and is signed by the court’s deputy prosecutor, Mame Mandiaye Niang, sets out what prosecutors see as Duterte’s individual criminal responsibility for dozens of deaths that occurred between 2013 and 2018.

The first count dates to his time as mayor of Davao City, when he is alleged to have been an “indirect co-perpetrator” in 19 murders between 2013 and 2016.

The second and third ICC charges concern his years as president. The former relates to the murders of 14 so-called “high-value” targets in 2016 and 2017, while the latter refers to 43 murders committed during “clearance” operations against lower-level alleged criminals between 2016 and 2018.

The 76 murders were carried out by police as well as non-state actors, such as hitmen, according to the ICC document.

The publication of the charges came several weeks after a court delayed Duterte’s appearance scheduled for later this month at the ICC to hear the accusations against him.

The court must first consider whether the former president is fit to stand trial, following his lawyer Nicholas Kaufman’s suggestion that the case should be indefinitely postponed because of Duterte’s poor health.

Kaufman has said that Duterte is suffering “cognitive impairment in multiple domains”.

Duterte was arrested in the Philippines’ capital, Manila, on March 11, and was swiftly flown to the Netherlands, where he has been held in ICC custody. The 80-year-old insists his arrest was unlawful.

Duterte’s supporters in the Philippines allege that his detention is political and the result of his family’s falling out with the current president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (Al Jazeera)

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Philippines President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr is set to visit India from August 4-8, and hold talks with President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other officials.

Marcos after arrival in New Delhi on August 4 will meet with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

On August 5, he will lay a wreath at Rajghat. Marcos will then hold talks with PM Modi in Hyderabad House.

Exchange of Memoranda of Understanding and Press Statements will take place thereafter.

Marcos will then meet JP Nadda, Minister of Health and Family Welfare and thereafter President Droupadi Murmu.

The Philippines’ President will then travel to Bengaluru and meet Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot.

At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ferdinand R Marcos Jr will pay a State Visit to India, a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

This would be the first visit of Marcos to India since the assumption of office of the President of the Philippines.

Diplomatic relations between India and the Philippines were established in November 1949. Both countries have since developed a strong partnership across a broad spectrum of areas, including trade and investment, defence and security, maritime cooperation, agriculture, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and digital technologies. The two countries also engage closely at the regional level, including through India’s Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with ASEAN.

The statement added that India’s relations with the Philippines are an integral pillar of our ‘Act East’ Policy, Vision MAHASAGAR and our vision of the Indo-Pacific. The forthcoming State Visit of President Marcos coincides with the 75th anniversary of India-Philippines diplomatic relations. The visit is an opportunity for both leaders to set the path for future bilateral cooperation and to engage on regional and international issues of mutual interest, it added.

India and the Philippines share warm and multifaceted bilateral relations rooted in historical ties and shared democratic values. Cooperation spans various sectors, including defence, trade, investment, and cultural exchange. (ANI)

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The office of the President of the Philippines has reported the arrest of the country’s former leader, Rodrigo Duterte, after receiving a request from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Duterte was taken into custody on Tuesday at Manila airport upon his arrival from Hong Kong, according to the Philippine government, which received the ICC request through the international police agency, Interpol.

“Upon his arrival, the prosecutor general served the ICC notification for an arrest warrant to the former president for the crime of crime against humanity,” the government said in a statement.

“He’s now in the custody of authorities,” it said.

The charge of “crimes against humanity” is related to Duterte’s brutal anti-drugs drive. The so-called “war on drugs”, while Duterte was in office from 2016-2022, deprived suspects of “due process under the law”, according to the arrest warrant, and resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, including children.

In a statement, Human Rights Watch (HRW) described Duterte’s arrest as “a critical step for accountability in the Philippines”.

“His arrest could bring victims and their families closer to justice and sends the clear message that no one is above the law. The Marcos government should swiftly surrender him to the ICC,” said Bryony Lau, HRW’s deputy Asia director.

Defending his actions amid reports of his possible arrest, Duterte had previously said that he “did everything…for the Filipino people”.

“If it’s really my fate in life, that’s OK, I will accept it. There’s nothing I can do about it. If I’m arrested, if I’m jailed, so be it,” he had said.

Over the course of Duterte’s six-year presidency, more than 7,000 people were killed in official anti-drug operations, according to police records.

However, human rights advocates have claimed that the killings numbered more than 30,000, including those who were killed by unknown suspects, some of whom later turned out to be police officers. (Al Jazeera)

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The Philippine navy said today its ships were holding drills near a contested shoal in the South China Sea, a day after Manila and Beijing agreed to seek common ground and find ways to cooperate despite ongoing disputes.

The exercise around the Scarborough Shoal, one of Asia’s most hotly contested areas, was aimed at enhancing the navy’s capability to secure what it said were Philippine waters and the country’s territorial integrity, the navy said in a statement.

It described it as a “routine unilateral exercise” involving its Antonio Luna frigate and two other patrol ships operating in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

The exercises would take place from Jan 17-19, it said.

The drills coincided with the continued radio challenges by the Philippine coast guard to the presence at the shoal of China’s largest coast guard vessel, which it says is illegally patrolling in Manila’s EEZ.

“If China is genuinely committed to deescalating tensions and sincerely seeks to foster mutual trust and cooperation between our nations … the Chinese government must respect the Philippines’ sovereign rights in our EEZ,” the coast guard said in a statement late yesterday.

China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment today.

China’s expansive territorial claims in the key maritime trade route overlap with the EEZs of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

A 2016 ruling of an international arbitral tribunal said Beijing’s claims, based on its historic maps, have no basis under international law, a decision China does not recognise.

During yesterday’s 10th round of talks under a bilateral mechanism set up to address issues in the South China Sea, China and the Philippines both agreed to boost communication and deepen dialogue, but also called each other out over recent standoffs.

They also pledged to advance coast guard and marine scientific cooperation while committing to resolving issues peacefully. (Daily Express)

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A woman from the Philippines has been arrested at the Katunayake Airport with a stock of cocaine worth Rs. 200 million.

Sri Lanka Customs officials at the airport had arrested the woman while they had found 2.851 kilos of cocaine in her possession. 

The woman is reported to have travelled from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia via Doha, Qatar to Sri Lanka. 

Investigations reveal that the woman had concealed three cocaine parcels alongside parcels containing chilli and turmeric powders, and wheat flour.

The woman has been identified as a 47-year-old Assistant Accountant and a Philippine national. (Newswire/ Image- File pic)

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