As the Philippines wraps up a tumultuous year punctuated by colourful barbs thrown across warring political houses, an ongoing corruption scandal surrounding flood control projects threatens to derail President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s administration.
Externally, Manila has been embroiled all year in a long-standing territorial row with Beijing in the South China Sea that shows no signs of waning, while also gearing up for the hot seat as next year’s chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
We recap below the headlines for the Philippines in 2025:
Water wars
Tensions between the Philippines and China over disputed waters in the South China Sea heightened following Beijing’s announcement in September of the approval of a national nature reserve at Scarborough Shoal, just 124 nautical miles west of Zambales province.
This came a month after a China Coast Guard (CCG) and navy ship collided while the former was trailing a Philippine Coast Guard vessel during a resupply mission in the area.
The row also came to a head this month, as Manila accused CCG ships of firing water cannons at Filipino fishing vessels near Sabina Shoal, which injured three fishermen and caused significant damage to their boats.
Throughout the year, Beijing has taken more assertive measures in its claims over contested waters, deploying two long-range H-6 bombers in March around the Scarborough Shoal.
