Manila // Current

Jose Sarasola Sex Video Scandal

From obscurity to fame in an instant, Filipino-Spanish Boy, Jose Sarasola, is mired in a sex video scandal even before his... more

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Criselda Volks Sex Tape Scandal

Once the Philippines up and coming sexy starlet, Criselda Volks has fallen from grace with the straw that broke the camel's... more

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Irish Fullerton Photo Scandal

The alleged Irish Fullerton Photo Scandal that are published in tabloids and in Pep are definitely not new. Anyway, Irish... more

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Global financial crisis will hit army of overseas Filipino workers

MANILA (AFP) — There are few countries in the world where you will not find a Filipino worker. Even in tiny Iceland, one of... more

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Philippines beauty contest... with a twist!

A beauty contest with a difference! Hmm, there's something not quite right about these ladies! At first glance, nothing... more

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2008 Amazing Beauties Philippines

Contestants in the 2008 Amazing Beauties Philippines, a beauty pageant for transsexuals and cross-dressers, wait backstage in Manila.

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Airliner Makes Emergency Landing with Hole in It

A hole the size of a small car in the underside of a Qantas jumbo jet carrying 346 passengers over the South China Sea forced the... more

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Billboard Bags - Manila's massive vinyl advertisements get a second life.

Binggirl Clemente has worked in environmental advocacy in the Philippines for the past eight years. Today, she leads a project to... more

oliverpiega
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Philippines: 700 missing after ferry capsizes

Only three survivors have been found after a ferry with more than 700 people onboard capsized near the central Philippine island... more

merasyad
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Brazilian Hunk da who

Who is this guy? Parang i have seen him in commercials already..What's his name? Is he even really a Brazilian?..blog,... more

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Josef Elizalde scandal

PBB Teen Plus housemate Josef Elizalde is seen in a video drinking with friends and was videotaped in a simulated kiss with... more

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Donita Rose and Tina Bitanga bare

I just want to give it to the people who are searching like crazy for the Donita Rose scandalous pic. Donita Rose already... more

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Filipino children caught in conflict

A United Nations report has urged better protection of children caught in conflicts between the government and rebels in the Philippines. The country prohibits recruitment of children for combat in war zones.

The report, released by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon last week, said 19 children were killed in conflicts between July 2005 and November 2007 in the Philippines, while 42 were maimed.

More than half of these cases was allegedly perpetrated by government security forces, a fifth was attributed to the Abu Sayyaf, and the rest to communist rebels of the New People’s Army (NPA). The Abu Sayyaf is an al-Qaeda-linked extremist group that claims to be battling for an independent Islamic homeland in the Philippines’ southern Mindanao region.

The UN report said there is evidence that government paramilitary forces and rebel groups, including the communist insurgents and those from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), recruited children during the same period. The liberation front is another Muslim separatist group.

“A Unicef-commissioned study on children and women in MILF and NPA areas found that children seek to associate themselves with these armed groups because of poverty, lack of access to basic social services, and the influence of their families, peers, and community members,” the report added.

It said government security forces accused some of the child recruits of being associated with rebel groups.

“A controversial case was that of a 9-year-old girl who was killed when government soldiers clashed with NPA guerrillas near her home in Compostela Valley [region] in southeastern Mindanao. Her body was photographed with a rifle and presented by the military to the media as that of an NPA child combatant. The Army later retracted its statement and admitted that the girl was a non-combatant,” the UN report said.

Mindanao has been racked by communist and Muslim rebellions since the 1970s.

The report urged the government of the Philippines to examine, in cooperation with the UN country team and other relevant actors, the need to include specific provisions for the protection of children in all peace or ceasefire negotiations.

It also asked Manila to facilitate efforts by the UN country team to enter into dialogue with the New People’s Army, MILF, and Abu Sayyaf armed groups in order to prepare and implement action plans to halt the recruitment and use of children and prevent and respond to other violations against children.

The New People’s Army is supposedly 5,700-strong and has been engaging government forces in the countryside for nearly 40 years. The MILF controls part of the southern region of Mindanao, while the Abu Sayyaf is active in Sulu province in southwest Mindanao. A United Nations report has urged better protection of children caught in conflicts between the government and rebels in the... more