Dindo Manhit, President of the Stratbase-Albert del Rosario Institute (ADRi) for Strategic and International Studies President Duterte has had an eventful series of weeks, filled with comments on his foreign policy and on developments in Philippine relations with other countries. A good amount of ink has been spent now on the Duterte’s ties with Beijing… Read More

October 28, 2016 Dindo Manhit, President of the Stratbase-Albert del Rosario Institute (ADRi) for Strategic and International Studies An analysis on the Philippines’ investment and financing agreements with China While it is tempting to read recent events in the Philippines as being solely influenced by the president’s personal sentiments and as designed by his foreign… Read More

October 21, 2016 Dindo Manhit, President of Stratbase-Albert Del Rosario Institute (ADRi) for Strategic and International Studies The Philippines is waiting for the outcome of President Rodrigo Duterte’s trip to China, which promises to be an important moment for promoting more trade between the two countries. For several years, Chinese direct investments in the Philippines… Read More

Dindo Manhit, President of the Stratbase-Albert del Rosario Institute (ADRi) for Strategic and International Studies Image Source: BusinessWorld The traffic situation in Metro Manila has become indescribable. Traveling between Makati City and Quezon City easily takes four to six hours of a commuter’s day. Worse, during the rainy season, Metro Manila grinds to a halt… Read More

Carl O. Schuster, Captain, USN (Ret) Adjunct Professor, Hawaii Pacific University Diplomacy and Military Science Program Although not unexpected, China’s neighbors should take warning from China’s rejection of the International Court of Arbitration ruling on its South China Sea claims. Beijing has used the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as the basis… Read More

Angelica Mangahas, Deputy Executive Director of the Stratbase-ADRi  For most years since independence, the Philippines has not faced a serious armed threat from another country. The quiet has been explained as the result of many things: the disinterest of major powers, the goodwill fostered by ASEAN, and the focus of Southeast Asian governments on domestic… Read More

October 7, 2016 Renato de Castro, Stratbase-ADRi Trustee Image Source: The Philippine Star Located in the heart of Southeast Asia, the South China Sea is a semi-enclosed sea surrounded by China and several small and militarily weaker Southeast Asian powers such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. Since the mid-1970s, these states have been… Read More