WAR ON TERRORISM. President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected proposals for him to declare a state of emergency on a violent southern island to be able to more rapidly crush Abu Sayyaf extremists, who killed 15 soldiers this week in the largest single-day combat loss of his government.

MARCOS BURIAL. Human rights victims of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos' regime have filed a last-ditch legal challenge to prevent his burial at the Heroes' Cemetery.

TRAGEDY. Four construction workers were reportedly buried alive while two others were brought to a hospital when a portion of a construction site along Salvador Extension in Barangay Labangon, Cebu City, collapsed past 9 a.m. Wednesday.

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