Philippines president approves contraceptives law

The Philippines president has signed a law that will promote contraception, sexual education and family planning programs vigorously opposed by the country's Roman Catholic Church.

Bus bomb in Philippines kills 7, wounds 9

A bomb ripped through a passenger bus in the restive southern Philippines on Thursday, killing at least seven people and wounding nine others.

Emergency rule declared after Philippine political massacre claims 46 lives

The Philippine government placed part of the restive southern region under emergency rule on Tuesday as police and soldiers dug up more bodies in a hilly mass grave, bringing the death toll of one of the country's worst election-related killings to 46.

As night fell in remote Maguindanao province, security forces wrapped up a day's digging with shovels, excavators and -- in some cases -- bare hands, only to find 25 extra bodies of journalists, lawyers and supporters of a local politician, who irked the region's most powerful clan. Authorities are still verifying if there is any survivor from Monday's gruesome massacre which targeted more than 50 civilians. Twenty-one bodies were recovered on the first day.

Dead bodies lie on the ground near their vehicles at the crime scene of a massacre of a political clan that included several journalists in the outskirts of Ampatuan, Maguindanao in southern Philippines Nov. 24, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

A Xinhua stringer saw bullet-riddled bodies piling one upon another being unearthed from the mass grave. Soldiers covered the victims' bodies -- some have become unrecognizable -- with banana leaves as loved ones who managed to arrive cried at the brink of the grave.

By 6 p.m. local time Tuesday, 46 people were confirmed dead, including 21 women and 13 local journalists, said Col. Janathan Ponce, a regional army spokesman. The retrieval will resume on Wednesday.

The victims were on a convoy through the Amputuan town on Monday to register Esmail Mangudadatu as governor candidate for next year's provincial election. They were stopped by around 100 militiamen and were herded away from the main road before being shot in front, at close range, by M-16 rifles, said Commander Felicisimo Khu, who heads the task force to deal with the case. Machete wounds were also found on victims' bodies.

A shallow grave of victims is dug at the scene of a massacre of a political clan, which included several journalists, on the outskirts of Ampatuan, Maguindanao in southern Philippines Nov. 24, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

Genalyn Tiamzon-Mangudadatu, who planned to file the candidacy papers on behalf of her husband, was among the dead.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday placed Maguindanao, the neighboring province of Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato city under the state of emergency, which gives police and military liberty to arrest and detain suspects.

"I order all units to pursue the perpetrators, to restore order and secure affected areas in Maguindanao," Arroyo told Tuesday's cabinet meeting, which was held in Manila instead of Boracay, the country's tourist island, because of the killing.

Residents gather at the scene of a massacre in the southern township of Ampatuan in Maguindanao, November 24, 2009.(Xinhua/Jef Maitem

Press Secretary said Arroyo has assured an impartial investigation in "this unconscionable, barbaric and dastardly act" no matter who gets hurt.

National Police Chief Jesus Versoza flew into Maguindanao to personally direct the pursue and rescue operations.

"No one will be untouchable in this case," he said.

Meanwhile, more than 70 civilians gathered near one entrance of the Malacanang Presidential Palace at Tuesday noon time to rally for the massacre victims.

In between drizzles, they wore white head-bands, lid candles and held white flowers tied with banners saying "Justice for the victims of the Maguindanao Massacre".

Political violence is not uncommon in the Philippines, especially in Muslim Mindanao, a region plagued by decades of insurgency battles and flooded with loose arms.

But the indiscriminate killing of women, working journalists, and civilian supporters shocked the nation.

In a statement issued on Monday, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said they will hold accountable the civil and security officials in Mindanao for their failure to end "the culture of violence and warlordism that lays waste not only to those who engage in politics but to innocent victims as well."

The NUJP also called on fellow journalists "to band together and demand no less."

Presidential Adviser for Mindanao Jesus Dureza described the killing as a "gruesome massacre unequaled in recent history". He suggests "everyone be disarmed" in the emergency rule but most people doubt that the region's warlords would follow the order to lay down guns.

Political analysts now foresee a gloomy picture of election security as the massacre occurred just days after the process for the May 2010 elections kicked off. More than 100 people were killed in election-related violence in the last national elections in 2007.

Irish missionary kidnapped by Philippines gunmen

Fears are growing for an Irish missionary kidnapped in the southern Philippines, where militants are fighting the army for a separate Islamic state.

Father Michael Sinnott, 79, was seized yesterday at 7.30pm local time (11.30 BST) by six gunmen from his gated compound in Pagadian City, on the southern island of Mindanao. The raiders reportedly duped staff at Columban House, home to 47 missionaries, to gain entry and captured the priest as he was strolling around the gardens. He runs a school for children with hearing difficulties.

Angelo Sunglao, chief superintendent of the western Mindanao police, said that the attackers bundled the priest into the back of a van and drove to a nearby beach, where a fisherman saw them escape in a speed boat heading towards the town of Tukuran.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the kidnap, although it is feared it may be the work of an al-Qaida linked guerrilla group, Abu Sayyaf, which has been fighting the Philippines army since the 1990s.

Speaking to the Associated Press Sunglao, said a hunt for the kidnappers was under way. "We can't speculate yet on who is behind the kidnapping, but the Abu Sayyaf is known to be operating near the area," he added.

The group, thought to number around 400, is one of several militant Islamist groups in the majority Roman Catholic Philippines. It has kidnapped dozens of foreign aid workers, missionaries and tourists in the south and was blamed for the country's most deadly bomb attack, on a ferry in 2004 that killed more than 100 people.

Pat O'Donoghue, the Columbans' director in the Philippines, said that Fr Michael had had a heart bypass four years ago and needed regular medication. "He's a very robust man for his age, but if he does not have his medication this would be a very serious for him."

Fr Michael has spent the past four years running a school for children with hearing difficulties. He has lived in the Philippines since 1976.

Fresh floods swamp Philippines

A week of relentless rains has put dozens of towns and villages under water [Reuters]

Fresh floods have covered large areas of the northern Philippines after days of heavy rain from the remnants of Typhoon Parma.

The flooding and landslides in the northern part of the main island of Luzon have left around 100 people dead in the past week, officials said on Friday.

Tens of thousands have been evacuated from affected areas and thousands more remain trapped by high waters.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Senator Richard Gordon, the head of the Philippine Red Cross, dozens of provinces had been "totally inundated" by floods.

He said Red Cross boats had evacuated hundreds of families and more boats and relief workers were due to arrive in the region later on Friday.

The flooding was made worse after five dams began releasing excess water on Thursday from rivers and reservoirs that had swelled from the unceasing rain brought by Parma.

Rescue teams have been stretched by two massive storms in quick succession [EPA]

The opening of the dams flooded areas downstream, with dozens of towns and farmlands transformed into vast lakes.

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas, reporting from Manila, said emergency services, which are already struggling to handle the aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana which hit late last month, have now been stretched even further by the fresh flooding.

Typhoon Parma first hit the Philippines last Saturday and has since weakened into a tropical depression but continues to linger around the region.

Rescue officials in the mountainous Benguet province said on Friday that at least 69 people were killed in landslides across five districts.

At least 25 people had been reported killed earlier, the National Disaster Co-ordinating Council (NDCC) said.

Between 60 to 80 per cent of the coastal province of Pangasinan has been flooded and 30,000 people evacuated, said Lieutenant-Colonel Ernesto Torres at the NDCC.

Thousands of people spent the night on rooftops or sought refuge on higher ground and the bad weather hampered rescue efforts.

Rescue calls

Amado Espino, the governor of Pangasinan province, told local radio that rescue teams were having difficulty reaching those stranded because of the strong currents and heavy rain.

Marlyn Premicias, the province's vice-governor, said she started getting frantic text messages from residents late on Thursday asking to be rescued after the San Roque dam released water along the Agno river, inundating 30 out of 46 townships in the coastal province.

In Nueva Ecija province to the east, 23 of 32 towns and cities were hit by floods, local officials said.

Roads were cut off heading north from the capital, Manila, where residents are still trying to pick up the pieces from Typhoon Ketsana.

That storm killed at least 337 people, flooded large areas in and around the capital and forced nearly half a million from their homes last week.

In addition the storm caused millions of dollars of in damage to crops, roads, bridges and schools.