KORONADAL CITY -- The Central Mindanao police office has placed its forces on full alert as local government officials in the region condemned the spate of explosions that hit the area recently.

MAASIM, Sarangan -- Community vigilance of T'boli families in Barangay Lumasal here has led them to safety by temporarily leaving their homes and seeking refuge in a nearby school.

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- Police said the killing of Vice Mayor Froilan Rufino of President Quirino, Sultan Kudarat is not connected to the recent grenade blast that killed five villagers.

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- A hundred out-of-school youth and grade school children, garbed in colorful Muslim and indigenous attires, from southwest Mindanao will open this year's Wow Philippines.

INSTEAD of using commercial fertilizers and pesticides, farmers can lessen their expenses by using a tiny nitrogen-fixing fern, azolla.

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- Sultan Kudarat Governor Teng Mangudadatu has denied reports the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels raided a village in Esperanza town and used five villagers they allegedly

KORONADAL CITY -- European Union (EU) ambassadors have pressed for an end to a worsening humanitarian crisis in Mindanao by calling on the government and Moro rebels to immediately resume peace negotiations.

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- Two soldiers were wounded when waylaid by more or less 15 communist rebels along a highway in Mantangkil, a remote village in Arakan, North Cotabato, around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

THE Australian Government, through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), will provide P144 million to help reduce the incidence of malaria in the Philippines.

DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. recently held a private meeting with local businessmen in a local hotel in General Santos City.

THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) urged the National Government to reconstitute its peace panel as calls for a resumption of the stalled peace process mount.

GOVERNMENT troops overran a suspected camp of New People's Army (NPA) rebels responsible for last New Year's attack on the exploration base camp of foreign-owned Sagittarius Mines Inc., a local military commander said.

ALABEL, Sarangani -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is hoping that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will return to the negotiating table with the government negotiators, a provincial official said.

ALABEL, Sarangani -- The government troops in Mindanao welcomed the idea of a ceasefire with the New People's Army (NPA) during the observance of Christmas season.

TAMPAKAN, South Cotabato -- Officials of Barangay Liberty in this town appeared unsatisfied over a mining firm's commitment to look into their demand for an agreement that would entitle them to community development assistance.