This creature has a humble moniker but it's part of the Philippines' wondrous wealth in marine life. It's called the “bubble shark” (because it can puff up to twice its size when threatened), and it's a brand-new species discovered only last year in the Verde Island Passage Marine Corridor (VIPMC).

A Chinese fishing vessel that crashed into one of the Philippines' most famous reefs damaged almost 4,000 square meters of centuries-old coral, the marine park said on Saturday.

An former policeman on trial for murder in the Philippines escaped from jail on Thursday, then embarrassed authorities further by speaking to media outlets over the phone.

Another day, another accolade for the country's economic performance. The latest comes from Moody's Analytics, which, in a report released six days ago, called the Philippines “Asia's rising star” with the potential to become “one of the world's fastest-growing economies.” Its 6.6-percent growth in 2012 is “impressive,” said the report — a growth that “looks sustainable, as risks are low and most sectors of the economy are growing solidly.”

The Philippines said Monday that peace talks with communist rebels had collapsed and a target of ending the decades-long insurgency by 2016 was impossible to achieve.

Leftist Philippine rebels are raking in millions of dollars extorting money from candidates in next month's elections and will likely use this to buy guns, a senior military official said on Sunday.

The Aquino administration turned the tables on Beijing on Saturday, accusing the Chinese government of occupying a piece of Philippine territory in the South China Sea.

Gunmen killed 13 people in an ambush on a Philippine mayor, police said Friday, in the deadliest of a string of violent incidents that have marred campaigning for May elections.

China on Friday hit out at the Philippines' attempt to seek an international verdict on a territorial dispute over islands in the South China Sea, repeating that it would never give up its claims.

China on Friday hit out at the Philippines' attempt to seek an international verdict on a territorial dispute over islands in the South China Sea, repeating that it would never give up its claims.