The arrests come as confrontations between the two Asian neighbours over contested reefs and waters in the strategic South China Sea have escalated in recent months

The men, using a drone and high-resolution solar-powered camera, recorded activities at a naval base, a coast guard station, an air base and a dockyard in Palawan province, the closest major lan director Jaime Santiago told a joint news conference.

  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
    36·
    19 hours ago

    The Philippines has a habit of targeting anyone who investigates and reports on the attrotious labor practices on the island, then calling them spies or insurgents to justify arrest, torture, and assassination.

    How a remote US military base became the front line of a battle for equal pay for Filipino workers overseas

    Hundreds of Filipino workers are stranded at a remote U.S. military base on an Indian Ocean island due to a minimum wage dispute, according to investigations by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and The Washington Post.

    Some workers for Kellogg Brown & Root have not left the island, Diego Garcia, for more than three years as Philippine officials told the major American contractor that it must raise employee pay to meet the U.S. federal minimum wage rate in 2020.

    Workers told Trafficking Inc. reporting partners that they fear losing their jobs if they head home before the wage dispute is resolved. Furthermore, the Philippine government alleges that KBR has canceled regular charter flights from the base to the Philippines since the start of this year as a form of “emotional blackmail.”

    • horse_battery_staple@lemmy.world
      31·
      14 hours ago

      Yes however the reason the false charges against labor organizers are believable is due to Chinese activities there. Both things can be true. I don’t think labor organizers are in possession of Chinese drone footage and radio equipment.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
        11·
        13 hours ago

        I don’t think labor organizers are in possession of Chinese drone footage and radio equipment.

        Anyone with a Temu account can be in possession of it.

        • horse_battery_staple@lemmy.world
          11·
          13 hours ago

          Chinese drone footage and radio equipment.

          Note the distinction I said footage. Yes anyone can buy a radio and a drone. But buying that drone won’t put them in possession of aerial footage of a US Joint Base.