Australian Warren Rodwell emerged Saturday withered from 15 months as a captive of Islamic militants in the lawless southern Philippines, his ribs protruding but able to smile.

The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily halted the implementation of a law that provides state funding for contraceptives, legislation opposed by the dominant Roman Catholic Church but supported by reproductive health activists.

President Benigno Aquino said Sunday that negotiations were the only way to resolve a Philippine sultanate's claim to Sabah as he criticized an armed incursion into the Malaysian state.

President Benigno Aquino opened a giant US$1.2 billion casino on Saturday to kick off the Philippines' high-stakes bid to join the likes of Macau and Las Vegas in an elite group of gaming destinations.

The Philippine government on Sunday welcomed the release of its 21 U.N. peacekeepers after they were freed by Syrian rebels and crossed into Jordan, where officials waited to receive them.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino signed a landmark law on Monday compensating human rights victims of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, 27 years after a bloodless “People Power” revolution ended his reign.

Philippine officials say more than 100 communist guerrillas stormed one of the world's largest pineapple plantations in the country's south, killing a guard, burning farm equipment and seizing firearms in their biggest attack so far this year.

Tropical depression “Crising” made landfall Tuesday afternoon over the southern tip of Davao del Sur as it moved in a west-northwest direction, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

The Philippines on Saturday called for a peaceful resolution to a tense stand-off between Malaysian forces and a group of gunmen claiming to be followers of the heir of a former Borneo sultan.

With attention turning from Europe to the “new” world, worshippers in the Philippines prayed quietly and took to social media on Tuesday in the hope their cardinal might be chosen as the next leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.