Asia longest insurgency close to end

The leaders of the Philippines' biggest Muslim rebel group arrived in Manila on Sunday for a historic visit aimed at ending one of Asia's longest and deadliest insurgencies.

Flag MILF or MNLF [Flag fotw]

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief Murad Ebrahim and other senior rebel figures emerged from their remote bases in the country's south to oversee the signing of an accord on Monday that outlines a road map for peace by 2016.

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The accord, announced by President Benigno Aquino a week ago, has won applause from foreign governments and the United Nations as a rare chance to end a rebellion that has killed an estimated 150,000 people since the 1970s.

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Half of Manila submerged by Torrential Rains

Relentless rains submerged half of the sprawling Philippine capital, triggered a landslide that killed nine people and sent emergency crews scrambling to rescue tens of thousands of residents, some of whom called media outlets pleading for help.

The deluge, the worst to hit Manila since 2009 when hundreds died in rampaging flash floods, was set off by the seasonal monsoon that overflowed major dams and rivers in the city and surrounding provinces.

Manila and other parts of the country already were saturated from last week's Typhoon Saola, which battered the capital and the north for several days before blowing away Friday. That storm was responsible for at least 53 deaths.

"It's like a water world," Benito Ramos, head of the government's disaster response agency, said Tuesday.

Read more: C TV News

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China warns US naval exercise may lead to conflict

TENSIONS OVER disputed areas in the South China Sea continued to intensify at the weekend as China warned the United States that its joint naval exercise in the region has raised the risk of armed confrontation.

China has territorial disputes with practically everyone in the region about the South China Sea, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan, and defence experts believe that the next conflict in the region will probably relate to one or other of these issues.

Recent weeks have seen a maritime standoff between the Philippines and China in disputed sovereign seas near the Scarborough Shoal, west of a former US navy base at Subic Bay.

Read more: Irish Times

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Chinese fishing boats end Philippine standoff

Talks between the Philippines and China over a fishing dispute in the South China Sea remain deadlocked despite an apparent end to a standoff between Chinese fishing boats and Philippine naval vessels, according to the Philippine government. 

Albert del Rosario, the Philippine foreign secretary, said eight Chinese fishing vessels that sparked the incident had left waters near the islands of Scarborough Shoal on Friday as negotiations were continuing.

Del Rosario said in a statement that he only learned of the departure of the Chinese boats while meeting Chinese ambassador Ma Keqing on the dispute. He said the Chinese boats had taken their catches with them, despite Philippine efforts to claim the haul.

Read more: Al Jazeera

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Good Friday: Nine Catholics nailed in Philippines

Nine Catholic devotees in the Philippines marked Good Friday by reenacting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, with real nails driven through their hands and feet as villagers dressed as Roman centurions and thousands of others looked on.

The devotees say they endure the pain to give thanks, atone for their sins and pray during Holy Week. “I feel good because my suffering has ended,” Ruben Enaje, a 51-year-old sign painter, told the Associated Press. Enaje went through his 26th crucifixion this year after recently surviving a fall from a building.

The annual event, held this year in the northern province of Pampanga, is opposed by Catholic Church leaders in the Philippines and around the world.

Read more: Washington Post

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Washi leaves more than 1000 dead in Philippines

[ via Bangkok Post  ] 20 Dec

More than a thousand people are dead or missing after flash floods that ravaged the southern Philippines, the government said Tuesday as cities prepared for mass burials. 

Some 957 people have been killed and 49 others are missing after tropical storm Washi lashed the southern island of Mindanao andsurrounding areas over the weekend, said civil defence chief Benito Ramos.

Washi brought heavy rains that swelled rivers, unleashing flash floods and landslides that struck in the dead of night and swept away shantytowns built near river mouths.

Read Bangkok Post  for details

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Tropical Storm Washi takes toll of 180 lives Saturday in Southern Philippines

[ via Bangkok Post ] 17 Dec

The flash floods that ravaged the Southern  Philippines  as a consequence to the tropical storm "Washi" that struck Saturday has left 180 dead with nearly 400 people.

Regional military spokesmen told reporters 97 bodies were recovered in Cagayan de Oro, a major port on Mindanao island, and 75 were found in Iligan, a nearby southern port, accounting for most of the deaths.

375 people are still reported to be missing from the two cities alone.

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