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Philippines Says Envoy Recalled over Canada Trash Row

The Philippines has recalled its ambassador to Canada, Manila's foreign minister said Thursday, in an escalation of a festering diplomatic row over tonnes of trash shipped to the Southeast Asian nation.

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Philippines Votes in Polls Expected to Strengthen Duterte

Filipinos headed to the polls on Monday in a vote that is expected to strengthen President Rodrigo Duterte's grip on power, opening the way for him to deliver on pledges to restore the death penalty and rewrite the constitution.

More than 18,000 positions are at stake, including half of the seats in the upper house Senate, which has served as a bulwark against some of Duterte's most controversial policies.

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Extreme Easter: Flogging, Crucifixions in Philippines

Hundreds of barefoot men beat themselves with flails and at least 10 were to be nailed onto crosses throughout Good Friday in a blood-soaked display of religious fervour in the Philippines.

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Restaurant Blast in Southern Philippines Wounds at Least 13

A bomb blast outside a restaurant on Wednesday wounded at least 13 people, including children, in the insurgency-plagued southern Philippines, authorities said.

The explosion shattered a window at the front of the eatery, striking family members gathered for an event in the town of Isulan on Mindanao island, Mayor Marites Pallasigue told AFP.

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EU to Probe Allegations of Aid Diverted to Philippine Rebels

The European Union said Saturday it would investigate allegations that its aid funds were being funnelled to Philippine communist guerrillas waging a decades-old insurgency that has killed thousands.

The Philippine government demanded the probe, alleging that aid supplied to a local non-profit by the EU was being diverted to the Communist Party of the Philippines and its New People's Army (NPA), the bloc's office in Manila said.

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Philippines Due to Leave ICC over Drug War Inquiry

The Philippines was poised to officially quit the International Criminal Court on Sunday, though the beleaguered tribunal has pledged to pursue its examination of possible crimes in the government's deadly drug war.

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Thousands March against Duterte on International Women's Day

Thousands of women took to the streets of Manila Friday in protest against President Rodrigo Duterte's alleged misogyny as an exhibition marking International Women's Day exhibited the clothes of Philippine rape victims.

Protesters marched on Malacanang presidential palace chanting against Duterte, who has repeatedly made jokes about rape and said last year that when he was a teenager he indecently "touched" the family maid.

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At Least 18 Killed in Twin Bomb Attack on Philippine Church

At least 18 people were killed Sunday when two bombs hit a Catholic church on a southern Philippine island that is a stronghold of Islamist militants, the military said, days after voters backed Muslim self-rule in the region.

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Philippine MPs Approve Martial Rule Extension for South

The Philippine Congress granted President Rodrigo Duterte's request to extend martial law in the country's south until the end of 2019 on Wednesday, ignoring opposition warnings of a creep towards authoritarian rule.

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Duterte Seeks Martial Law Extension in Southern Philippines

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday asked legislators to extend martial law across the southern Philippines until the end of 2019 in order to quell continuing violence in the restive region, officials said.

Duterte's request, which could be approved as early as next week, comes despite critics voicing concerns the move threatens human rights and places too much power in the leader's hands.

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