Forums: Philippines )

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...