Manila  - A strong earthqu

Manila - The Philippines declared a two-year moratorium on the sale and conversion of farmland to help ensure availability of food crops, the government said Friday.

Manila - Philippine economic growth slackened to 5.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2008 from a year ago, dragged down by rising oil prices and the slowdown in the US economy, the government sai

Manila  - Three communist rebels were captured in a clash with government troops in a northern Philippine province, a military spokesman said Tuesday.

Manila  - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo inaugurated on Tuesday the Philippine leg of a 550-million-dollar fiber optic cable network that will connect several South-East Asian countries with the United States.

The 20,000-kilometre Asia American Gateway (AAG) network will link Malaysia to the US via Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam, Hawaii and the US West Coast through an undersea cable system.

The network is scheduled to be completed within the year.