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The Philippine military says it has killed three senior militants from al-Qaeda-linked groups in a raid in the south of the country. The air raid took place on Thursday in an area known as a militant stronghold. Officials said two Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leaders and one Abu Sayyaf leader were among a total of 15 people killed. Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir, or Marwan, who was on the US FBI's most wanted list with a $5m (£3.2m) reward offered for his capture, was reported killed. According to the military, the militants were killed in the town of Parang on Jolo island,...

HONOLULU: Canada, Mexico and at least two other countries have expressed interest in joining US-led talks for a pan-Pacific trade pact, a US Republican lawmaker said on Friday after Japan asked to take part. “There’s a good deal of momentum for the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership),” Representative Kevin Brady said after meetings with members of President Barack Obama’s administration at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. That momentum was evidenced by Japan’s announcement earlier on Friday that it was interested in joining the talks “and what seem to be very solid inquiries from Canada, Mexico and a few others,” Brady...

Millions of Roman Catholic devotees paraded with a statue of Christ through the Philippine capital under a massive police cordon Monday after the president warned that terrorists might target the raucous annual procession. The government did not have specific intelligence on a terrorist plot. Still, about 15,000 policemen, backed by hundreds of army troops, secured the three-mile (five-kilometer) procession route for the charred wooden Black Nazarene statue from seaside Rizal Park to a popular church in Manila's congested Quiapo distric...There were suspicions that attackers might come from two radical Muslim groups, including the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, which is on...

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Millions of Roman Catholic devotees paraded with a black Christ statue through the Philippine capital under a massive police cordon Monday after the president warned that terrorists might target the raucus annual procession. The government did not have specific intelligence on a terrorist plot. Still, about 15,000 policemen, backed by hundreds of army troops, secured the three-mile (five-kilometer) procession route for the charred wooden Black Nazarene statue from the seaside Rizal Park to a popular church in Manila's congested Quiapo district...

How Can You Retire in the Philippines Like a King on US$1,000 per month? What is Living Like A King to me? What a king is to one man is like a pauper to another. I feel like I am living like a king here in the Philippines and have been since I came here because of the kindness of the people. And my small income seem like a kingly fortune too. In the States at fifty years old I was treated like an old man and I guess I was. I felt like one. No one smiled at me,...

A 14-year-old American boy who was abducted with his mother and cousin by suspected Muslim militants in the southern Philippines was released Saturday from five months of jungle captivity, the Philippine military said.

US offered F-16s ‘to anticipate rising China’ Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The United States has reportedly asked for Indonesia’s help to counter the increasing influence of China, particularly in the South China Sea, which some foreign policy analysts say reflects the US’ strategy of “proxy by war”. An Indonesian source, who closely followed the contacts between the two countries, recently told The Jakarta Post that the US had asked Indonesia to receive 24 used F-16 fighter jets from the US, rather than purchasing new ones that would come in a fourth number of the granted units. The Indonesian...

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Philippine authorities say a mentally ill man who fatally stabbed his barber after he was teased about his new haircut has been shot dead inside a jail by the victim's brother. Mayor Alex Centina of central Calinog town says the brother of the slain barber pretended to be bringing food to the detained Benjie Lozada on Tuesday. Then, he shot him in the face in front of Lozada's mother.

The demand for upfront payment -- part of Tricare’s attempt to crack down on rampant fraud -- has led to a dangerous burden for veteran retirees, (snip) “A lot of guys know they’re sick but they won’t go to the hospital because their money is slated for other things,” said Jim Tyler, director of the Subic Bay Retired Activities Office in Olongapo, which supports local veterans. “They won’t find out what’s wrong and they die.” Tricare acknowledges that the Phillipines system is one of its most dysfunctional and troubled — so much so that the agency decided in September to...

Earlier this year, unprecedented protests were held in Vietnam, a Communist regime that notoriously stamps out any form of dissent. The demonstrations were about China’s aggressive antics in the South China Sea. China is claiming an exclusive economic zone covering more than half the area and has recently come into conflict with Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam.Dr Cuong Trong Bui, president of the Queensland chapter of the Vietnamese Community in Australia, is concerned that China is “bullying� countries over the South China Sea.“Vietnam lodged a protest when Chinese vessels on 26th of May damaged cables and equipment within Vietnam’s 370km...

SNIPPET: "ZAMBOANGA CITY (2nd update, 1:56 p.m.) -- A powerful blast killed at least 3 people and wounded 27 others in a budget hotel packed with wedding guests in the southern Philippines, officials said Monday. The explosion, suspected to have been caused by a bomb, ignited a fire that gutted the two-story Atilano Pension House in downtown Zamboanga city late Sunday." SNIPPET: "Zamboanga city, a predominantly Christian trading hub 540 miles (860 kilometers) south of Manila, is located in a volatile region long troubled by a decades-long Muslim insurgency, extortion gangs and kidnap for ransom syndicates."

SNIPPET: "MANILA, Philippines—A group of suspected Filipino hackers allegedly financed by a Saudi-based terrorist cell was arrested by agents of the Philippine National Police and the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) disclosed on Thursday." SNIPPET: "The group was allegedly behind attacks on the US telecommunication firm AT&T that resulted in $2 million in losses to the company in 2009. In a statement, the CIDG said the group also had links to the Asian terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI)." SNIPPET: "ATCCD chief Senior Supt. Gilbert Sosa identified the suspects as Macnell Gracilla,...

Wife is heading to Manila, Philippines for a month. This is work related. She will be in the financial district....any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks!

Obama met with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and announced a permanent military presence in Australia beginning next summer. CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA — The Obama administration announced plans Wednesday to establish a permanent military presence in Australia, part of the president’s high-profile foreign policy shift toward Asia that is intended as a counterbalance to China’s growing power. The move to send 250 Marines to bases here for six-month tours starting next summer, eventually rotating 2,500 troops through the country, is the first step toward the administration’s larger goal of repositioning the United States as a leader on both economics and security...

MANILA, Philippines - (UPDATE - 3:55 p.m.) Left-wing youth activists attacked the convoy of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as she left Malacanang Palace following talks with President Benigno Aquino III Wednesday afternoon. The activists managed to stop the convoy and briefly turn it back before they were pushed back by policemen and troops of the Presidential Security Group. Around 50 members of the League of Filipino Students and Anakbayan ran from San Marcelino St. to the Ayala Bridge, storming past traffic policemen, and catching the convoy’s security detail by surprise.

My love for you is unending and in this same manner I AM calling you to "ALL" move together "AS ONE" ! Use "MY" Love for there is ~Grace~ there !!! 1 Corinthians 4 1SO THEN, let us [apostles] be looked upon as ministering servants of Christ and stewards (trustees) of the mysteries (the secret purposes) of God. 2Moreover, it is [essentially] required of stewards that a man should be found faithful [proving himself worthy of trust]. 3But [as for me personally] it matters very little to me that I should be put on trial by you [on this point],...

Don't take peaceful approach for granted Global Times | October 25, 2011 01:22 By Global Times Recently, both the Philippines and South Korean authorities have detained fishing boats from China, and some of those boats haven't been returned. China has been increasingly confronted with sea disputes and challenged by tough stances from the countries involved. These events have been promoting hawkish responses within China, asking the government to take action. China has emphasized its reluctance in solving disputes at sea via military means on many occasions. Peace is vital for its own economic development. But some of China's neighboring countries...

Open Letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and President Barack Obama Gentlemen, For the last seven years I have written about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have covered the US Army, Marines, Air Force and Navy. I’ve also covered the British, Lithuanian, Afghan and Iraqi forces, among others, in places ranging from Iraq to the Philippines and beyond. My most recent embed in Afghanistan was at personal invitation from then-General David Petraeus. It is said that I have spent more time with American combat forces than any writer in US history. I do not know if this...

Manila: The Philippine government has refused to return the 25 Chinese vessels that were taken in the South China Sea (also known as the West Philippine Sea) and the case is to be resolved with the help of a third party, a local paper said. "The disposition of the small boats will be in accordance with a legal process," Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario told the Star. China has urged the Philippine government to respect the recently concluded China-Vietnam Joint Statement, in which they agreed to work bilaterally to resolve their disputes over contested claims within the South...

Skeptics of AmericaÂ’s engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq have frequently drawn comparisons to Vietnam as a reminder of the futility of far-flung military interventions. Rarely do they mention the Philippines, the site of one of our first forays into nation-building. A recent film, however, uses that mostly forgotten war as a backdrop for a meditation on the wisdom of sending Americans abroad in search of monsters to destroy. Written and directed by John Sayles, Amigo, which arrived in a handful of American cities last month, is set in 1900 amid the three-year Philippine-American War. In the spring of 1898, shortly...

An ugly momentum is building in the South China Sea, where an official Chinese newspaper called last week for war against Vietnam and the Philippines to uphold China's assertion of sovereignty over the mineral-rich seabed, estimated to hold 7 billion barrels of oil and 900 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The lead article in the Chinese Communist Party newspaper Global Times Tuesday carried the headline "The time to use force has arrived in the South China Sea; Let's wage wars on the Philippines and Vietnam to prevent more wars." "The South China Sea is the best place for China...

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine authorities say Muslim militants have freed a Filipino-American woman after 2 1/2 months in captivity but are still holding her 14-year-old son and a relative.

A giant 21-foot crocodile weighing in at about a ton was caught by a group of villagers in the Philippines, possibly making this the largest crocodile captured alive ever. The giant crocodile has been plaguing the town for years, as it reportedly attacked and killed a water buffalo last month according to witnesses and possibly a fisherman and child who have been missing since July. Villagers and veteran hunters of Bunawan, 515 miles southeast of the capital Manila, caught the crocodile after a hunt which lasted about three weeks. It took nearly 100 people to pull the 2,370 pound crocodile...

Many people around the world are unaware of the war that has been raging in the Philippines. At the heart of the violence is the desire of Jihadist terrorist groups such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah to establish an independent Islamic state ruled by Shariah law on the island of Mindanao. US diplomats openly acknowledged in the secret cables leaked by Wikileaks the role Saudi Arabia was playing in funding the Islamic groups in the Philippines...

Villagers Pull One-Ton Crocodile Out of Creek in Philippines Published September 05, 2011 AP MANILA, Philippines -- Villagers and veteran hunters have captured a one-ton saltwater crocodile which they plan to make the star of a planned ecotourism park in a southern Philippine town, an official said Monday. Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde said dozens of villagers and experts ensnared the 21-foot male crocodile along a creek in Bunawan township in Agusan del Sur province after a three-week hunt. It could be one of the largest crocodiles to be captured alive in recent years, he said, quoting local crocodile experts. Elorde...

The 21-foot, 600-kg seawater crocodile caught in Agusan del Sur may very well be the largest one captured but certainly not the first nor will it perhaps be the last one to be captured in the wild. Project director Ronald Nuer of the Bunawan Municipal Council said it took them 21 nights to snare the behemoth which, to the alarm of those who caught it, twice got out the restraining ropes before it was finally tied down after which it became overly “aggressive" three times. Nuer added that according to the Palawan Wildlife Conservation Center which helped capture the crocodile,...

Philippines, Vietnam get warships in China spat By HRVOJE HRANJSKI, Associated Press The Philippines and Vietnam each received warships Tuesday to beef up their navies as they face tensions with China over disputed islands, raising the prospect of a deepening arms race in the South China Sea. The two Southeast Asian nations also are shopping for additional military assets, including submarines for Vietnam and air defense radars for the Philippines, as the impoverished nations try to gain leverage with their huge northern neighbor while staying within their budgets. The Philippines has turned to second-hand U.S. hardware: A decommissioned U.S. Coast...

MANILA, August 14, 2011— An exorcist has led a ritual outside the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Sunday to ask for God’s forgiveness for those who “dishonored the image of Christ.”Fr. Michelle Joe Zerrudo of the Diocese of Cubao said the prayer was being offered to compensate for whatever has been done to God by those behind the controversial art exhibit at the CCP.“This is an act of love for God to make up for the lack of love. This is not a political rally but simply a religions event,” Zerrudo said.“Regardless of what has been done, we...

<p>The protests have now spread to other cities, with violence reported in parts of Birmingham, Liverpool and Bristol.</p> <p>Great Britain and other parts of the world are experiencing unrest at a time of global economic uncertainty and stock market volatility.</p>

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. dispatched a military team to the Philippines to help the Manila government root out militant Islamic extremist groups. The terrorist threat is seen as much diminished since then but still active. The military mission remains in the Philippines as part of the U.S.-led global anti-terrorism campaign. Rocky Zeender spent two years on what he calls the “forgotten front” of the war on terrorism - the Philippines. "Nobody knows about it. Right now all the funding and all the military support is going into the Middle East. And...

Southeast Asia’s underwater bazaar Ristian Atriandi Supriyanto, Singapore A scan of recent naval procurement by Southeast Asian navies points to the fact that submarines top their shopping lists. Thailand and the Philippines have been talking the talk to add submarines to their fleets. Thailand plans to buy six ex-German Navy Type-206 submarines. Despite facing domestic criticisms against the plan, Bangkok believes the US$257 million purchase will be money well-spent. The Thai Navy argues that the underwater warships are needed to patrol the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand and catch up with neighboring navies’ modernization. The Philippines, too, has recently...

I first started coming regularly to Daet, in the Bicol region of the Philippines, more than 13-years ago.It’s a sleepy, quiet, relaxed place without the bustle of Quezon or Manila… perfect for people looking to live an easy, simple life. Despite the bucolic setting, though, the telecom infrastructure is pretty stellar.At my wife’s hotel last week, I was able to utilize a mobile broadband connection, which cost me the equivalent of $0.25 an hour, to sit and do what I do every day no matter where I am in the world– monitor and trade the Australian stock and options markets.I...

CLARK, Philippines (AP) -- Walking along the rows of tombstones here offers a glimpse of the wars America has fought and the men and women who waged them. But most of the grave markers have been half-buried for 20 years, and there is little hope that the volcanic ash obscuring names, dates and epitaphs will be cleared any time soon. Clark Veterans Cemetery was consigned to oblivion in 1991, when Mount Pinatubo's gigantic eruption forced the U.S. to abandon the sprawling air base surrounding it. Retired U.S. soldiers, Marines and sailors volunteer to keep watch, relying on donations to try...

Philippine Navy acquires biggest warship By DJ Yap Philippine Daily Inquirer The biggest ship ever to be acquired by the Philippine Navy, the renamed BRP Gregorio del Pilar, will begin its three-week journey to the Philippines from California on Monday. The 378-foot Hamilton-class cutter is a decommissioned United States Coast Guard patrol vessel that the Philippines was able to acquire under the United States Excess Defense Act. (The cutters are called “Hamilton class” after their lead ship, the Hamilton, named after Alexander Hamilton, the first US Secretary of the Treasury.) Armed Forces Chief Eduardo Oban Jr. earlier said the transfer...

China’s omnivorous energy requirements have been attracting increasing attention as of late, as Beijing attempts to secure any and all sources of power for its growing industrial base. Nowhere is this more noticeable than Beijing’s policies in the South China Sea, where Chinese assertions of sovereignty are unsettling the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, all of whom have counter claims on the various shoals and islets. China’s landward neighbors are also feeling the hot breath of Beijing’s mandarins, however, most notably its economic rival India, with whom China fought a brief war in 1962 in the Himalayas over...

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said Washington is committed to the defence of the Philippines, amid rising tensions in the South China Sea. She said the US would honour its mutual defence pact with Manila and offer the Philippines affordable weapons. Several Asian nations claim territory in the South China Sea; Chinese ships have recently encroached on areas to which others have declared ownership. ... The Philippines has complained of nine separate Chinese incursions into its territorial waters since late February, and Vietnam has also accused China of harassment in the region. The area around the small Spratly...

A U.S.-funded program whose aim is to “address the constraints that impede the overall business climate of the Philippines and consequently improve levels of investments in the country” is on the horizon. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) plans to launch the 2-3 year endeavor, known as the Investment Enabling Environment (INVEST) Project, so that it can help make “regulations less cumbersome” for Philippine business owners. USAID ultimately intends to accomplish that task by lowering the cost of compliance with and “limiting the scope” of excessive bureaucratic oversight, according to a presolicitation notice (#SOL-492-11-000011) that the Monitor located via...

Manila to send World War II warship into disputed area 04:47 AM Jun 18, 2011 MANILA - With tensions rising over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, the Philippines said yesterday it will send its biggest warship, a World War II vessel, to the area after China deployed one of its largest civilian maritime patrol ships. Philippine President Benigno Aquino III also said his government will continue to seek dialogue but insisted his country will not be bullied by China. "We will not be pushed around because we are a tiny state compared with theirs," Mr Aquino said. "We...

A Filipino teenager has sparked outrage among facebook users when he pegged his puppy on a clothes line and posted images of the helpless animal on the social networking site. Jerzon Senador, from Calamba, Laguna, was bored and hence decided to carry out the horrific stunt. He is likely to face animal cruelty charges, reports Daily Mail. The struggling puppy was left hanging on the clothesline from the skin on its back. The teenager, meanwhile, took photos of the poor animal from various angles, said the daily. The cruel images were taken off the website and the teenager tendered a...

Pasta has topped a global survey of the world's favourite foods. So how did the dish so closely associated with Italy become a staple of so many tables around the globe? While not everyone knows the difference between farfalle, fettuccine and fusilli, many people have slurped over a bowl of spaghetti bolognese or tucked into a plate of lasagne. Certainly in British households, spaghetti bolognese has been a regular feature of mealtimes since the 1960s. It's become a staple of children's diets, while a tuna-pasta-sweetcorn concoction can probably be credited with sustaining many students through their years at university. But...

MANILA (AFP) – The bones of an extinct sea cow species that lived about 20 million years ago have been discovered in a cave in the Philippines by a team of Italian scientists, the expedition head said Monday. Several ribs and spine parts of the aquatic mammal were found in February and March in limestone rock above the waters of an underground river on the island of Palawan, said University of Florence geologist Leonardo Piccini. "The fossil is in the rock, in the cave. We cannot remove it and we don't want to extract it. We would like to wait...

More mysterious animal deaths have surfaced, this time in a volcanic lake in the Philippines. Reports say that 800 tons, or 1.6 million pounds, of fish have turned up dead in a lake near the Taal volcano, which is located south of the capital city of Manila. Officials say the deaths may have been a result of sudden temperature change in the water.

Chinese jets buzz PAF patrol planes By Jaime Laude (The Philippine Star) Updated May 20, 2011 12:00 AM Manila, Philippines - Chinese jet fighters reportedly buzzed two Philippine Air Force (PAF) planes on a routine reconnaissance patrol on Thursday last week at the vicinity of the Kalayaan Island Group, which is part of the disputed Spratlys. Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr. said yesterday that the military is still validating the report, but sources have confirmed the recent intrusion into Philippine air space by Chinese jet fighters. “We are validating reports pertinent to that,” Oban...

World boxing icon and Philippines congressman Manny Pacquiao has come out in support of the Catholic bishops’ fight against the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill. Pacquiao, an eight-division world champion and the first boxer in history to win 10 world titles, spoke in the House today during the interpellations on the RH Bill, saying that corruption is a bigger problem than overpopulation and that lawmakers should concentrate on creating laws that will fight poverty instead of promoting the use of contraceptives. “It’s not the RH bill that is the answer to poverty. The answer to poverty is to end corruption...

SNIPPET: "They say they police intelligence unit arrested Asdatul Sahirun on Sunday at a shopping mall in the capital's Malate tourist district."

VIDEO Dateline:Philippines "He was unarmed; why kill him?"

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Officials say hundreds of boys in a Philippine city have turned out for a daylong "circumcision party." The event in Marikina city east of Manila aims to promote safe circumcision in a region where the surgery is sometimes performed by non-doctors using crude methods.

The Philippines has lodged a formal protest at the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf over China's claims to the Spratly islands and adjacent South China Sea waters. The newest controversy in the decades-old multilateral dispute centers on formal notes sent by China to the UN secretary general in 2009 outlining the basis of its claim. China has recently reiterated its exclusive claims to all the disputed areas and their adjacent waters, much of which is actually closer to the Philippines. The Philippines claims more than fifty islands in the Spratly archipelago. Manila’s petition argues for...

More than a dozen people have been nailed to crosses in the Philippines in front of thousands of tourists in a controversial annual event to mark Good Friday. Hundreds more people had their backs whipped until they bled during the grisly religious spectacle re-enacting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in the town of Cutud, north of Manila. The event, held annually despite the disapproval of church leaders in Asia's largest Catholic outpost, saw participants flagellated as they marched to a series of crucifixion sites, AFP said. Some participants said they wanted to prove their faith by taking part in the...

MANILA, Philippines – A jailed tribal leader has been temporarily freed to help urge gunmen, including his relatives, to safely release 16 mostly grade school teachers in the latest high-profile hostage crisis to hit the Philippines in recent months, officials said Sunday.