Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The United States and the Philippines announced an expansion of America’s military presence in the Southeast Asian country on Thursday, with U.S. forces granted access to four more military camps, effectively giving Washington new ground to ramp up deterrence against China.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa and her online news company were cleared Wednesday of tax evasion charges she said were among a slew of legal cases used by former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to try to muzzle critical reporting.

MANILA, Jan 8 (NNN-PNA) – Residents in the central and southern Philippines are bracing for more rain that can trigger flooding and landslides in these areas this weekend, the state weather bureau warned yesterday.

It said, a low-pressure area is now located some 735 kilometres east of Mindanao, in the southern Philippines, adding, the brewing storm will bring “moderate to heavy rain showers” in the southern and central regions in the next 24 hours.

MANILA, Jan 6 (NNN-PNA) – The unemployment rate in the Philippines declined to 4.2 percent in Nov, compared to the previous month’s record of 4.5 percent, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said today.

PSA data showed 2.18 million Filipinos were out of work in Nov, lower than the 2.24 million recorded in Oct. PSA head, Dennis Mapa, said, the Nov unemployment rate was the lowest rate since Apr, 2005.

According to PSA, the employment rate rose to 95.8 percent, bringing the total employment for Nov to 49.71 million.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines’ interior secretary announced Wednesday he has asked all police generals and full colonels to submit their courtesy resignation to clean the ranks of ties to illegal drugs.

Around 300 officers are covered by the directive, which was recommended by the national police chief, who will also submit his courtesy resignation, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said in a news conference.

MANILA, Jan 2 (Reuters) - The Philippines' main gateway scrambled to resume full services on Monday after a New Year power outage jolted its air traffic control and disrupted 300 flights, prompting calls from business leaders and a top senator for urgent action.

A failure of primary and secondary power supplies caused the outage at Ninoy Aquino airport, and it should take about 72 hours for airlines to normalise their operations, said Cesar Chiong, general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority.

MANILA, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Philippine authorities halted flights in and out of Manila on New Year's Day due to a malfunction of air traffic control, which also prevented airlines bound to other destinations from using the country's airspace.

A total of 282 flights were either delayed, cancelled or diverted to other regional airports, affecting around 56,000 passengers at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the airport operator said on Sunday.

It was unclear how many overflights were affected.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Heavy rains and floods that devastated parts of the Philippines over the Christmas weekend have left at least 29 dead and 25 missing, the national disaster response agency said Wednesday.

More than 86,000 people were still in emergency shelters after bad weather disrupted Christmas celebrations in the eastern, central and southern Philippines.

MANILA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of heavy rain and floods triggered by shear line in the Philippines has climbed to 17, said the government's disaster agency Tuesday evening.

At least 27 others are still missing, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) in its latest report.

The NDRRMC has tallied five deaths in the Bicol region on the main Luzon island, two in the central Philippines, and 10 in the southern Philippines. The agency did not say the cause of death, but media reports said it was mainly by drowning.

MANILA, Dec 26 (NNN-PNA) – At least six people have died and 19 others are missing, as heavy rain and flooding, triggered by the shear line have been seen in many regions in the Philippines over the weekend, the government said today.

In a report, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said, two died in the Bicol region on the main Luzon island, while four died in northern Mindanao, in the southern Philippines.

For the missing people, the agency said 10 were in the Bicol region. Three others were reported injured.