Nardo Samson posing with granddaughter Kiara Bautista, May 2017. Jan Daniel Belmonte
Eighty-year-old Nardo Samson, a retired policeman, lay dying in the back of a makeshift ambulance. It was nearly Easter. A surge in coronavirus cases triggered yet another lockdown in the capital Manila, where a confusing patchwork of quarantines to contain the virus persists.
His family s race to save him is part of a larger tableau of the pandemic in the Philippines. Relatives desperate to save a critically ill loved one are left to fend for themselves as recriminations rise against the government s handling of the public health crisis, which has resulted in over one million cases of COVID-19.
Palau invites U.S. military to build on remote islands China sees tiny nation as a big prize Follow Us
Question of the Day
By Richard S. Ehrlich - Special to The Washington Times - - Wednesday, May 5, 2021
BANGKOK American troop deployments can spark tensions and resistance in other parts of the world, but the tiny nation of Palau has invited the U.S. military to build ports, bases and airfields on its Pacific islands in the face of rising Chinese economic intimidation, according to defiant President Surangel Whipps.
The Palau response is an illustration of a larger phenomenon at work around Asia. As China grows increasingly wealthy, powerful and assertive, more and more of its regional neighbors are speaking up and pushing back.
No call for megaphone rudeness: China Daily editorial chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2021-05-05 19:46 This bird eye view shows the coral reefs in China s Xisha Islands, South China Sea.[Photo/Xinhua]
Although bilateral ties in general remain stable and strong, the spat over the Niu e Reef and subsequent diplomatic etiquette should serve as a timely reminder of the importance of China and the Philippines properly handling their differences.
On Tuesday, one day after tweeting a rude demand that China remove its ships from the reef, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin apologized for his remarks to Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
By HANA BORDEY, GMA News
Published May 5, 2021 10:21am Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Wednesday that the Philippines need to press on with a “megaphone diplomacy to counter China’s “gunboat foreign policy. “I would rather that we continue with the megaphone diplomacy because of the gunboat diplomacy of China. We could not confront them. We are not strong militarily and we are lacking compared to China, Drilon said an ANC interview. The only available peaceful means to us is to keep this issue in the forefront, in the front burner,” he pointed out. Further, he said, the government must continue “exposing China’s illegal acts” in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) . in order to keep China on its toes, as the Asia powerhouse keeps on confronting the Philippines with armed might.