Here’s a quick roundup of today’s top stories:
Ukraine’s Zelensky meets with Marcos, thanks PH for support
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in the Philippines on Monday in a rare Asian trip to urge regional leaders to attend a Swiss-organized global peace summit on the war in Ukraine that he accuses Russia, with China’s help, of trying to undermine.
Zelensky arrived unannounced and under heavy security in Manila late Sunday after speaking over the weekend at the Shangri-La defense forum in Singapore.
China Coast Guard seizes PH supplies for Ayungin
The China Coast Guard (CCG) has been accused of seizing and dumping overboard food and other supplies meant for Filipino troops stationed at a remote outpost in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, and allegedly obstructing a medical evacuation of ailing soldiers.
Both incidents took place on May 19, when the Philippine Navy performed an airdrop operation to bring the items to the BRP Sierra Madre, a dilapidated warship grounded in 1999 to protect Manila’s claims to the shoal, according to a ranking military official, who asked not to be named for not having authority to speak to the media.
Mayor Alice Guo’s DNA test no longer feasible
The DNA test that could have established the nationality of Alice Guo is no longer feasible, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said on Sunday, because Lin Wen Yi, the Chinese national believed to be the mother of the controversial Bamban, Tarlac mayor, has already left the country.
“[The DNA] is not possible for now because, according to the Bureau of Immigration, Lin Wen Yi and Jian Zhong Guo are no longer in the Philippines. They already flew to another country so we can’t find them here,” Gatchalian said in a radio interview.