Manila  - Unidentified gunmen shot dead a leftist activist as he opened the door of his home in the southern Philippines, a human rights group said Tuesday.

The victim, Rolando Antolihao, was a coordinator for the left-wing Bayan Muna (People First) party in Davao del Norte province, some 990 kilometres south of Manila.

Manila- A bank teller and two security guards were killed Monday in a bank robbery inside a university campus in the Philippines, police said.

The victims had just dropped off money at a bank inside the University of the Philippines campus in the city of Quezon, a suburb of Manila, when the killers struck.

Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula, city police chief, said the bank has not determined the amount the robbers took.

Manila  - A fisherman was killed in a rare shark attack in the northern Philippines, a police report said Friday.

The report said 38-year-old Joel Bacud suffered shark bites in his rib cage and chest in a rare attack on Thursday off the town of Paoay in Ilocos Norte province, 435 kilometres north of Manila.

Manila  - The Asian Development Bank said Friday that it approved a 1-million-dollar technical assistance grant to help boost the Philippine government's efforts to attain food security amid sharp surges in global food prices.

The Manila-based bank said the grant was to finance an analysis of the Philippines' agricultural and irrigation sectors.

Manila  - At least nine people were killed when a passenger motorboat capsized amid bad weather in the central Philippines on Thursday, local officials said.

It was the second motorboat to sink in the Philippines in three days.

The boat was battered by strong waves spawned by a tropical depression while on its way to an island off Concepcion town in Iloilo province, 450 kilometres south-east of Manila.

Manila - An Australian family in the Philippines sought the help of police and the Australian embassy on Thursday after armed men allegedly surrounded a resort they owned on a central island.

Greg Hutchinson told police and the Australian embassy that he and his family were holed up in their apartment next to the resort on Boracay Island, 330 kilometres south of Manila.

"The embassy is in communication with the family and local police who advised the embassy that police officers were on the scene to resolve the matter," Kiel Enrique, the embassy's press officer, said.

"We will maintain communication with the police and continue to provide assistance to the family and ensure its welfare and safety," Enrique added.