Manila  - Four Muslim secessionist rebels were killed Wednesday in a clash with government troops in the southern Philippines, a military report said.

London, Oct. 8 : The Philippines Government and the Filipino community have strongly condemned a comedy skit appearing on BBC where a man urges his neighbour to "mount" a Filipina maid.

An online petition described the skit appearing on the BBC show Harry and Paul as "disgraceful", "distasteful" and "tantamount to racism".

The petition attracted hundreds of signatures yesterday and calls were growing last night for the BBC to apologize, according to The Scotsman.

Manila - The Philippines ratified on Tuesday the charter of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) which will give the 10-country grouping a legal framework, as well as set out the principles and rules for its members.

Sixteen senators voted for the ratification of the charter, while one objected.

Pro-administration Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago was the ardent proponent in the ratification of the charter in the opposition-led senate.

Santiago said that the ASEAN charter will hasten the economic integration of the organization as well as balance the growing influence of China and India in the region.

The charter also commits its member-countries to promote human rights and democracy.

Manila - Philippine shares dropped 3.01 per cent on Tuesday as panic engulfed stock markets around the world over the deepening global financial crisis.

The Philippine Stock Exchange's 30-share composite index shed 75.34 points to close at 2,424.19 from Monday's finish of 2,499.53 points.

A total of 1.38 billion shares valued at 2.30 billion pesos (48.26 million dollars) were traded.

Losers swamped gainers, 108 to 10, with 28 issues unchanged.

Manila - The Philippine's inflation rate eased to 11.9 per cent in August amid stability in food and oil prices, the government said Tuesday.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) said September's inflation rate was lower than 12.5 per cent recorded in August. Inflation in September last year was 2.7 per cent.

"The country's annual inflation rate for food alone continued to improve at 17 per cent in September from 18.1 per cent in August," the agency said.

Manila  - The European Commission has earmarked 9.9 million dollars to civilians affected by violence in the strife-torn southern Philippines, an official said Monday.

Alistair MacDonald, head of delegation of the European Commission in the Philippines, said 5.68 million dollars would be used to help people affected by recent clashes between soldiers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in the southern region of Mindanao.