Manila  - The Philippine government Wednesday warned against possible terrorist attacks while the predominantly Catholic country celebrates Christmas and urged the public to be vigilant.

Presidential Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said security forces had received information "a few months back" on plans by terrorist groups to launch attacks during the holidays.

He said the government had been preparing since then for possible terrorist attacks.

"We don't want to take chances, whether there is information or not, we are assuming there are people who want to create trouble."

Kidapawan City, Philippines  - Communist rebels ambushed an army vehicle in the southern Philippines, wounding two soldiers, a military commander said Wednesday.

The attack occurred on Tuesday in Binoongan village in Arakan town, North Cotabato province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, said Colonel Melfredo Melegrito.

Melegrito said the soldiers were responding to reports that a group of communist rebels had attacked a banana plantation in the village.

"But they were ambushed along the highway, leaving two of our soldiers wounded," he said. "The wounded included an army officer."

Manila  - More than a year after escaping his military captors, Raymond Manalo still has nightmares about gushing water pummelling his face, combat boots cracking his ribs and the dark cage-like room where he was chained for more than a month.

"I did not expect to live a minute longer," the 28-year-old farmer told Deutsche Press-Agentur, dpa, recalling his 18-month captivity in various military camps in the Philippines. "The pain is numbing, but the numbness was only a prelude to more pain."

Manalo and his brother Reynaldo, 38, were among more than 200 victims of forced disappearances under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo since
2001.

Davao City, Philippines  - Seven suspected Muslim separatist rebels were killed in a clash with police officers in the southern Philippines, police said Wednesday.

The clash occurred in the village of Napnapan in Pnatukan town, Compostela Valley province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, on Tuesday.

Senior Superintendent Francisco Villaroman, a regional police intelligence chief, said the rebels were suspected to be members of a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

He added that the rebels were "engaged in extortion activities."

"These are lawless elements and had been subjects of a complaint by the governor, businessmen and people they have been threatening," Villaramon said.

Manila  - The European Union on Sunday announced an additional 2.5-million-euro assistance to thousands of civilians displaced by hostilities in the southern Philippines.

The new funding is on top of 7 million euros approved in October for short-term humanitarian assistance and long-term rehabilitation aid in the southern region of Mindanao.

Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, head of the Delegation of the European Commission in the Philippines, said the additional aid would ensure continued care for the displaced.

Iligan City, Philippines  - A second unexploded bomb was recovered in a southern Philippine city on Sunday, three days after twin explosions killed three people, police said.

The explosive, made from an 81-millimetre mortar shell, was found in a garbage dump in Iligan City, 810 kilometres south of Manila, police said.

It was the second unexploded bomb found in the city since two shopping centres were bombed on Thursday, killing three people and injured scores.