A 5.9-magnitude quake Monday rocked a central Philippine island still reeling from a deadly tremor last week, though there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, seismologists said. The US Geological Survey said the moderately strong quake struck Leyte island near Ormoc, a city of about 200,000 people, at 9:41 am (0141 GMT) at … Read more
Residents fled their houses in panic overnight on Friday as aftershocks hit the central Philippines a day after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake killed two people and injured at least 72 others, authorities said. Rescuers pulled out 13 trapped people from a collapsed commercial building late Thursday in the town of Kananga on Leyte island, near the … Read more
A 6.5-magnitude earthquake killed at least one person in the central Philippines on Thursday, with at least five more people trapped inside a collapsed commercial building, officials said. Rescuers pulled out six people from the three-storey structure in the town of Kananga, near the quake’s epicentre on Leyte island, Kananga Vice Mayor Elmer Codilla told … Read more
A powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake rattled the central Philippines Thursday, US seismologists said, revising an earlier figure of 6.9. The quake hit at a depth of around six kilometers (four miles), on the central island of Leyte, the US Geological Survey said. There was no immediate warning of a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. … Read more
Philippine troops pounded Islamist militants holding parts of southern Marawi city with air strikes and artillery Saturday as more soldiers were deployed and the death toll rose to more than 300 after nearly a month of fighting. Fires erupted and dark plumes of smoke rose from enclaves still occupied by the militants as the air … Read more
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned Wednesday that martial law would be “harsh” and like a dictatorship, after imposing military rule in the south of the country to combat Islamist militants. Duterte declared martial law in the southern region of Mindanao, home to about 20 million people, on Tuesday night after gunmen who had declared allegiance … Read more
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law Tuesday in the southern region of Mindanao, where security forces have been battling Islamic State group-linked militants, his spokesman said. “As of 10:00pm Manila time Duterte has declared martial law for the entire island of Mindanao,” spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a nationally televised briefing from Moscow where … Read more
Terrorists are planning to kidnap foreigners on a Philippine island popular with tourists, the US embassy has warned, a month after a foiled abduction attempt by Islamic militants at another tourism hotspot. An advisory from the US embassy in Manila on Tuesday warned Americans to “carefully consider” going to Palawan, naming a World Heritage-listed underground … Read more
Firebrand Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is set to enjoy much-wanted foreign support for his deadly drug war when he hosts Southeast Asian leaders at a Manila summit this week, observers say. Duterte’s unpredictable foreign policy is also expected to be in focus at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) event, with confusion surrounding his … Read more
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to throw corrupt officials from helicopters mid-air, saying he has done it before. “If you are corrupt, I will fetch you using a helicopter to Manila and I will throw you out,” said Mr Duterte, who is waging war on corruption and drugs. It’s the latest claim by the … Read more