JIM GOMEZ

Gomez is The AP Chief Correspondent in the Philippines.

Philippine officials say suspect in the killings of 2 Australians and a Filipina has surrendered

Philippine officials say the suspect in last week’s killings of two Australians and their Filipina companion at a Philippine hotel in a popular resort city south of Manila has surrendered.

New deal establishes a hotline Chinese and Philippine presidents can use to stop clashes at sea

A recently signed agreement will open a direct line of communication between presidential offices of China and the Philippines to help prevent any new confrontation from spiraling out of control in the disputed South China Sea.

US renews call on China to stop aggressive actions in disputed sea, where hostilities have flared

The United States has renewed a call on China to stop its aggressive actions in the South China Sea, saying a broader web of security alliances has emerged to preserve the rule of law in the disputed waters.

2 Australians and a Filipina killed in Philippine hotel, officials say

Officials in the Philippines say two Australian nationals and their Filipina companion have been killed in a hotel in a popular resort city south of the capital, and that police are trying to identify and track down the suspects.

Japan and the Philippines sign a defense pact in the face of shared alarm over China

Japan and the Philippines have signed a defense pact allowing Japanese forces to deploy in the Southeast Asian country for joint military exercises, including live-fire drills.

Former Philippine leader Duterte and aide accused of steering government contracts to cronies

A former Philippine opposition senator has accused ex-President Rodrigo Duterte of plundering state coffers in a criminal complaint. Former Sen.

Philippine military chief warns his forces will fight back if assaulted again in disputed sea

The Philippine military chief says his forces will defend themselves with “the same level of force” if they come under assault again from China’s coast guard in the disputed South China Sea.

China and the Philippines hold crucial talks to ease tensions after intense clash in disputed waters

China and the Philippines have held a crucial meeting to try to ease mounting tensions following their worst confrontation in the disputed South China Sea last month.

Japan and Philippines trying to finish defense pact for signing in Manila as alarm grows over China

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila says top defense and foreign affairs officials of Japan and the Philippines will meet in Manila next month to strengthen strategic ties and discuss regional concerns.

Philippines says it won’t back down, but won’t start a war, after clash with Chinese Coast Guard

The president of the Philippines says his country will not yield to “any foreign power” after Chinese forces injured Filipino navy personnel and damaged at least two military boats with machetes, axes and hammers in a clash in the disputed South China Sea, but added the Philippines will never instig

Philippines won’t invoke mutual defense treaty with US after Chinese confrontation at disputed shoal

The Philippines says it has no plans to invoke its mutual defense treaty with the United States after the Chinese coast guard reportedly rammed, boarded and used machetes and axes to damage two Philippine navy boats in a chaotic faceoff that injured several Filipino navy personnel at a disputed shoa

Vietnam says it’s ready to hold talks with Philippines on overlapping continental shelf claims

Vietnam says it’s ready to hold talks with the Philippines to settle their overlapping claims to the undersea continental shelf in the South China Sea.

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte resigning from posts in Marcos’ Cabinet as alliance flounders

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte is resigning as education secretary and head of an anti-insurgency body in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’

Philippines demands China return rifles and pay for boat damage after hostilities in disputed sea

The Philippine military chief has demanded China return several rifles and equipment seized by the Chinese coast guard in a disputed shoal and pay for damage in an assault he likened to an act of piracy in the South China Sea.

Philippine officials say Chinese forces seized 2 navy boats in disputed shoal, injuring sailors

Philippine security officials say Chinese forces have seized two Philippine rubber boats that were delivering food and other supplies to a military ship outpost in a disputed South China Sea shoal in a tense confrontation in which some Filipino navy personnel were injured.

China blames Philippines for ship collision in South China Sea. Manila calls the report deceptive

China’s coast guard says a Chinese vessel and a Philippine supply ship collided near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

Philippines seeks UN confirmation of its vast continental seabed in the disputed South China Sea

The Philippines has asked a United Nations body to formally recognize the extent of a vast undersea stretch of its continental seabed in the South China Sea, where it could exclusively exploit resources, the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said.

US and Filipino forces end drills that tested their endurance in brutal heat and volatile weather

U.S. and Philippine generals say that hundreds of American and Filipino troops have concluded a newly introduced war exercise in the northern Philippines.

Swedish defense chief says actions against Philippines in South China Sea threaten global security

Sweden’s defense chief has expressed alarm over Beijing’s repeated dangerous maneuvers against Philippine vessels in the disputed South China Sea, saying such actions threaten local and global security, undermine regional stability and underscore the need to invest “for our security and freedom.”

Philippines says China coast guard seized food dropped by plane for Filipino forces in disputed sea

The Philippine military chief says the Chinese coast guard seized one of four food packs dropped by a plane for Filipino navy personnel at a territorial outpost that has been surrounded by Chinese vessels in the South China Sea.

A volcano erupts on a central Philippine island, sending hundreds into evacuation centers

A volcano has belched a plume of ash and steam into the night sky in the central Philippines in a powerful explosion that sent more than 700 people fleeing to evacuation camps.

Zelenskyy in Manila to promote peace summit, which he says China and Russia are trying to undermine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with the Philippine president on a rare Asian trip to urge regional leaders to attend a Swiss-organized peace summit on the war in Ukraine that he accuses Russia, with China’s help, of trying to undermine.

Global aid group asks warring forces to respect its neutrality with 24 of its aid workers killed

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has asked state forces and combatants to respect its neutrality and work of delivering urgent humanitarian help to the most destitute in war zones, saying 24 of its aid workers have been killed this year mostly in the Gaza Strip.

Philippines says it will forge security alliances and stage combat drills despite China’s opposition

The Philippine defense secretary says it will continue to build security alliances and stage joint combat drills in disputed waters to defend its territorial interests.

Philippines blames China for loss of giant clams in disputed shoal and urges environmental inquiry

The Philippines has blamed Chinese fishermen for a massive loss of giant clams in a disputed shoal controlled by China’s coast guard in the South China Sea and urged an international inquiry into the amount of environmental damage in the area.

Filipino activists decide not to sail closer to disputed shoal, avoiding clash with Chinese ships

More than 100 Filipino activists on wooden boats have decided not to sail closer to a fiercely disputed shoal in the South China Sea to avoid a confrontation with dozens of Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships guarding the area.

Chinese coast guard shadows Filipino activists sailing toward disputed shoal

Chinese coast guard ships have shadowed a group of Filipino activists and fishermen sailing on wooden boats toward a disputed shoal in the South China Sea which Beijing has fiercely guarded from what it regards as intruders.

Sleepy far-flung towns in the Philippines will host US forces returning to counter China threats

After withdrawing from two huge U.S. military bases in the Philippines at the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, American forces are returning and building a new presence in nine sites on Philippine bases under a 2014 defense pact to counter China’s increasingly assertive actions.

US and Philippine forces sink a ship during largescale drills in the disputed South China Sea

U.S. and Philippine forces, backed by an Australian air force surveillance aircraft, have unleashed a barrage of high-precision rockets, artillery fire and airstrikes and sank a mock enemy ship as part of largescale war drills in and near the disputed South China Sea that have antagonized Beijing.

US and Philippine forces stage combat drills near strategic channel off southern Taiwan

U.S. Marines and their Filipino counterparts have staged joint combat drills on the Philippines’ northernmost island along the strategic Bashi Channel off southern Taiwan, a flashpoint in the Washington-Beijing military rivalry.