TERESA CEROJANO

Devotees climb on a glass-covered carriage carrying the image of Jesus Nazareno during its annual procession in Manila, Philippines, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Basilio Sepe)
Filipino Catholics pray for good health and peace in huge procession venerating Jesus statue
At least 1.8 million mostly barefoot Catholic worshippers are marching in an annual procession in the Philippines that venerates a centuries-old black statue of Jesus.
 
Philippine military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. center, listens as an exhibitor explains the Wind Demon, a long range air to surface cruise missile, during the Asian Defense and Security Exhibition on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
China says Philippine plan to deploy midrange missiles would be ‘extremely irresponsible’
China says a plan by the Philippines to deploy midrange missiles would be a provocative move that stokes regional tensions.
 
Mary Jane Veloso, center, a Filipino woman who spent almost 15 years in an Indonesian prison for drug trafficking and was nearly executed by firing squad in 2015, waves as she is reunited with her family at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong, Philippines on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Filipina who won a last-minute reprieve from an Indonesian firing squad seeks clemency
A Filipino woman who spent years on death row in Indonesia for drug trafficking, and who was nearly executed by firing squad in 2015, said Wednesday she’s happy to be back in the Philippines but still counting on its president to get out of jail.
 
Mary Jane Veloso, center, a Filipino woman who spent almost 15 years in an Indonesian prison for drug trafficking and was nearly executed by firing squad in 2015, is reunited with her family as she arrives at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong, Philippines Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Filipina who won a last-minute reprieve from an Indonesian firing squad returns home
Indonesian authorities have returned a Filipina woman to the Philippines who had been on death row and nearly executed by firing squad in Indonesia in 2015, after a longstanding request from her home country.
 
Sea dispute, N. Korea, Muslim militants top ASEAN meetings
Alarm over North Korea’s missile tests, an attempt to temper South China Sea disputes and unease over a disastrous siege by pro-Islamic State group militants will grab the spotlight in an annual gathering of Southeast Asia’s top diplomats with their Asian and Western counterparts.
 
Miss France crowned Miss Universe in Philippines
A 24-year-old dental student from France has won the Miss Universe crown in the annual pageant in the Philippines, saying her triumph will make the beauty contest more popular in Europe and help her efforts to put more children in school.
 
Amid protests, Philippine dictator buried at heroes cemetery
Long-dead former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos has been buried at the country’s Heroes’ Cemetery in a secrecy-shrouded ceremony, a move approved by President Rodrigo Duterte that infuriated supporters of the “people power” revolt that ousted Marcos three decades ago.
 
Philippine gov’t defends decision on hero burial for Marcos
The Philippine Supreme Court has extended its temporary ban on the burial of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at a heroes’ cemetery after a hearing at which some justices questioned whether President Rodrigo Duterte abused his executive power and violated laws by allowing the entombment, which is oppo
 
Philippine court clears Arroyo of plunder, orders her freed
The Philippine Supreme Court dismissed a plunder case against former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and ordered her freed from detention _ a decision the grateful ex-leader indicated can help her deal with those who “through self-serving interpretation and implementation of the law” made her suff
 
Filipinos set to vote: Slow reform or promise of big change?
Thirty years after emerging from a brutal dictatorship, Filipinos will face a dilemma when they pick a new leader Monday: Should they choose a sharp-tongued mayor who promises to wipe out crime within months, or back reformists who aren’t regarded as a threat to democracy?
 
Filipino mayor draws huge crowd in show of force before vote
The outspoken city mayor who is the front-runner in the Philippine presidential race has drawn the largest crowd as the candidates held their final rallies, despite efforts by the president to block his election bid over fears he could threaten the country’s democracy.
 
Asian stocks rise, buoyed by US stocks’ gains and weaker yen
Asian stocks rose in early trading Thursday, buoyed by a rise in U.S. stocks following an uptick in oil prices.
 
Shirt photos offer sometimes awkward moments of APEC unity
Former President Bill Clinton started the tradition in 1993, when he handed out leather bomber jackets similar to those worn by American fighter pilots. The U.S. leader apparently wanted his fellow VIPs to feel relaxed at the meetings.
 
UN official says women in Asia paid 30 percent less than men
Recent estimates by the International Labor Organization shows gender inequality in employment across Asia alone is costing $45 billion a year, with 45 percent of working-age women outside the labor force compared to 19 percent for men, the leader of the U.N. Women agency, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, to
 
Stuck in Manila, Chris Brown pleads, ‘please, let us leave’
“I don’t know, I’m reading headlines after headlines, what the (expletive)!” he added, smiling as his companions laugh in the background while sprawled on sofas.
 
Philippine crowd building for papal Mass
Organizers expect as many as 6 million people at the afternoon Mass, surpassing the 5 million record set by St. John Paul II at the same Rizal Park in 1995.
 
‘Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno’ stars in Manila
Satoh said it was difficult to think of what film to make next. But he said he hopes to “create some great movies” again with Keishi Otomo, director of the Kenshin trilogy.
 
3rd Philippine senator arrested in corruption case
Sen.
 
ADB: Private investment lags in Southeast Asia
Stephen Groff, ADB Vice President for operations, said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on East Asia, that private funding for infrastructure in five of the biggest Southeast Asian members has declined steeply. It was $38 billion in 1997 and around $25 billion in 2010.
 
Typhoon ruined traditional, high-tech livelihoods
TANAUAN, Philippines (AP) — As Typhoon Haiyan tore across the eastern Philippines, coconut plantations older than the fathers of the men who tend them were smashed like matchsticks and call centers that field customer service gripes from around the world fell silent.
 
Typhoon highlights weak Philippine infrastructure
Authorities fear that the storm that tore through Leyte province in the country’s east has killed thousands. More than 600,000 people have been displaced. Low rates of insurance in the Philippines mean the disaster is likely to sap government finances but analysts say it might not slow growth signif
 
Philippines files graft cases against lawmakers
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the complaints against the lawmakers, including veteran Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, alleged that they conspired with dummy aid organizations to steal millions of dollars in government funds that should have been used for agriculture and livelihood projects that the l