Filipinos watch a fireworks display in Manila during New Year's celebrations early Monday. Superstitious Filipinos believe the noisy New Year's celebrations, largely influenced by Chinese tradition, drive away evil and misfortune. (AP photo)
MANILA -- More than 900 people were injured by firecrackers and celebratory gunfire as Filipinos ushered in the New Year in frenzied revelry that persisted despite a high-profile government crackdown on dangerous celebrations, officials said Monday.
The figure - representing a nearly 50 percent rise in injuries compared to last year's - included nearly 300 people who were injured in pre-New Year revelry in the last two weeks and more than 600 injuries close to midnight Sunday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said. Among the injured were 35 people, mostly children, hit by celebratory gunfire.
DAVAO CITY -- The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is raising a howl over the inclusion of their members in the criminal complaint in the Makilala blast few months ago.
MANILA -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be sending a bill to Congress Tuesday that will seek to grant an average 10 percent increase in the base pay of government employees effective July 2007.
DAVAO CITY -- Sara Z. Duterte, the eldest daughter of City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, broke her silence over the raging political issue asking for time and privacy.
