Friday, May 23, 2008 (Philippines)

The prices of charcoal have shoot up as high as P50 per sack from P150 as suppliers stopped production due to heavy downpour in Mindanao for several days spawned by tropical storms. (Sunnex/Bong Garcia) THE Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has called on the National Government to give way for them to govern the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) as elections here is more than two months away. The Armm election is scheduled on August 11. The more than 1.4 million voters in the region's six provinces and one city are to elect a regional governor, vice-governor, and a 24-seat Regional Legislative Assembly (RLA). Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo [full story]