Philippines

DAVAO, Dec 15 (NNN-PNA) – According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), a powerful 6.9-magnitude tremor, has hit the island of Mindanao, near the city of Davao, in the Philippines.

The epicentre of the quake was situated at 56 km (35 miles) southwest of the city, at a depth of 53 km (33 miles).

No tsunami warning has been issued by the authorities, following the quake.

At the moment, there is no information about casualties or damage, inflicted by the tremor.

MANILA, Dec 14 (NNN-PNA) – A Jetstar Airways plane bound for Japan, veered off a runway and got stuck at the grassy portion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), before dawn on Saturday (today), airport authorities said.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), said, all passengers and crew were safely evacuated after the aircraft, an Airbus A320, overshot the runway, at 2:35 a.m. local time, while attempting to take off, and got stuck at the grassy portion of the runway.

MANILA, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to lift martial law in Mindanao in the southern Philippines by 2019, his spokesman said on Tuesday, after three times of extention since 2017 terrorist attacks on Marawi City.

"(Duterte) made the decision following the assessment of his security and defense advisers of the weakening of the terrorist and extremist rebellion, a result of the capture or neutralization of their leaders, as well as the decrease in the crime index, among the factors considered," spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

3 December 2019; AFP: Typhoon Kammuri killed at least two people in the Philippines on Tuesday as it tore roofs of houses and forced the international airport in Manila to shut down.

The storm roared ashore late Monday and passed south of Manila -- home to 13 million people -- and thousands of athletes at the regional Southeast Asian Games.

MANILA, Dec 3 (NNN-PNA) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB), said today (Tuesday) that it has approved a 400-million-U.S. dollar policy-based loan, to support the Philippine government’s efforts, to reduce the number of out-of-school and unemployed young Filipinos, that impedes more inclusive growth in the country.

The Manila-based ADB said, this programme will support government reforms, aimed at improving the employability of young Filipinos, through labour market programmes and providing easier access to on-the-job training schemes, to help them secure and retain jobs.

MANILA, Dec 3 (NNN-PNA) – Manila’s international airport, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, will be closed for 12 hours starting 11 a.m. today (Tuesday), due to the threat posed by powerful typhoon Kammuri, airport authorities said on Monday.

Ed Monreal, general manager of the Manila international airport authority, said that the airport will be closed from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. today.

“This is technically force majeure, and for safety of the passengers,” Monreal told a news conference. Monreal said, a total of 438 flights are going to be affected.

MANILA, Nov 13 (NNN-PNA) – Tourist arrivals in Asia grew faster than anywhere else in the world, a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report said today (Wednesday).

The report, titled The Asian Economic Integration Report 2019/2020: Demographic Change, Productivity, and the Role of Technology, also disclosed that, international tourism receipts hit a record 368 billion U.S. dollars in 2017.

“Inbound tourists from both Asia (up by 10.3 percent from 2016) and non-Asia (up by 8.2 percent) contributed to the high growth in Asian tourism,” the report said.

MANILA, Nov 12 (NNN-PNA) – Philippines is on its way to become the world’s biggest importer of rice this year following the government’s decision to allow the unimpeded importation of the staple as a way to bring down prices, international data showed.

A report by the United States’ Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agricultural Services (USDA-FAS) projected the country’s rice imports to reach a record three million metric tons (MT) by year-end—the highest in the world and the highest for the country.

31 October 2019; AFP: A powerful earthquake struck the southern Philippines on Thursday, killing at least five people and sparking searches of seriously damaged buildings that had already been rattled by two previous deadly tremors in recent weeks.

The 6.5 magnitude quake hit the island of Mindanao, the US Geological Survey said, causing locals to run to safety in the same area where a strong tremor killed eight people on Tuesday.

DAVAO, Philippines (AP) — A powerful earthquake shook the southern Philippines on Tuesday, killing one person, injuring dozens and sending people dashing out of homes and buildings in a region still recovering from recent strong quakes.

The 6.6 magnitude earthquake was caused by movement in a local fault about 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) deep about 25 kilometers northeast of Tulunan town in Cotabato province, the Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology said. The U.S. Geological Survey had the same measurement, adjusted from a preliminary 6.8.