Philippines

Philippines: Snake Knocks Out Power to Bohol Island

Date: September 15th, 2010 |

In some rural areas the power supply may be unreliable at best, but the island of Bohol, a popular tourist area, lost power recently in a most unusual way. A snake slithered onto a transmission line, was electrocuted, blew out a transformer and with it all electricity on the island for half a day. Power [read more]

Philippines: Rumbling Luzon Volcanoes Draw Tourists, Prompt Warnings

Date: June 23rd, 2010 |

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Two volcanoes on the island of Luzon are getting the attention of tourists and authorities, who are warning visitors to stay off the mountains for their safety. Taal Volcano in Batangas province about 30 miles from Manila is a popular tourist attraction, with a lake within a massive crater and an island in the lake [read more]

Philippines: Police Cracking Down on Volcano Tourists

Date: December 30th, 2009 |

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Authorities have begun cracking down on tourists venturing into the danger zone around erupting Mayon volcano near Legazpi City on Luzon island. Disaster officials ordered military officers to arrest anyone caught inside the five-mile-radius forbidden zone, where enterprising locals have been said to be renting all-terrain vehicles to tourists so they can get closer to [read more]

Philippines: Manila May Not Dry Out Until Christmas

Date: October 7th, 2009 |

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Eighty percent of Metropolitan Manila was flooded by Typhoon Ketsana, and days later Typhoon Parma swept in and dumped another 36 inches of rain on the islands. Fears of waterborne diseases such as diarrhea have grown because much of Manila’s trash gets dumped in waterways and streets as well as municipal dumps. Some 2 million [read more]

Philippines: Bombings in Southern Islands Stop U.N. Food Distribution

Date: July 8th, 2009 |

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A series of bombings in the southern Philippines prompted the U.N. to suspend food distribution to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by violence and caused police to step up security around state offices in Manila. The bombings occurred in Cotabato City and Iligan on Mindanao and on Jolo island. No one claimed responsibility for [read more]

Philippines: 82 Tourist Police Deployed in Visayas, More to Come

Date: July 21st, 2010 |

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Eighty-two new tourist police officers were recently deployed in tourist spots around the Central Visayas. The officers will man tourist police assistance centers in Cebu, Lapu-Lapu City, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor. In addition to being trained in the usual skills to aid tourists, the police were taught scuba diving so they can assist in [read more]

Philippines: Travel Alert for Mindanao, Sulu Archipelago

Date: January 27th, 2010 |

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The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert Jan. 20 warning of the risks of travel to the central and western portions of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago, in particular the provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat, and the city of Cotabato. These three areas are covered by a state of emergency that includes police [read more]

Philippines: State of Emergency in Mindanao Provinces, Cotabato City

Date: November 25th, 2009 |

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The government declared a state of emergency in the Mindanao provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat, and Cotabato City following the gruesome massacre of at least 46 people, including 13 local journalists, in political violence that was extreme even for this country where political violence is common. A convoy on its way to register a [read more]

Philippines and Vietnam: Typhoon Ketsana Lashes SE Asia

Date: October 1st, 2009 |

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Typhoon Ketsana dumped more than a month’s worth of rain on Manila and surrounding areas in a 24-hour period Sept. 26, flooding 80 percent of the city of 15 million people. Almost 250 people were reported killed and dozens were missing. Ketsana then moved on to Vietnam, where it killed at least 38 people and [read more]

Philippines: U.S. Embassy Warns Against Travel to Mindanao, Philippines Says Mostly Safe and Secure

Date: July 16th, 2008 |

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The U.S. Embassy in Manila warned against travel to Mindanao following a series of bombings of power lines and the defusing of improvised explosive devices in early July, and a bombing in Zamboanga in May that killed two people. The Embassy’s warning speculated that these actions could suggest a planned escalation of attacks on commercial [read more]

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