On 24 August, two explosions in Jolo, a city in Sulu province in the southern Philippines, killed 15 and injured 74—a chilling case of déjà vu in a region that has suffered repeated attacks in …
Long waits can let cooler heads prevail and reverse hot-headed decisions. In January, President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines threatened to terminate the 1998 Philippine–US Visiting Forces Agreement—a treaty-level pact that provides the operational framework …
On 11 February 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte gave 180 days’ notice of the termination of the 20-plus-year-old US–Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). The agreement provides the legal framework for US forces to be stationed on rotation in …
Three years, or halfway, into Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s term, both internal and external security concerns remain prominent in the consciousness of the country’s officials and security experts. Anxiety is particularly acute in the immediate …
When you consider the complexity of the Moro Islamic insurgency in the southern Philippines and the diverse motivations of the groups involved, it’s all too easy to be pessimistic about the prospects for a peaceful …