President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Eight days after the Philippines' worst political massacre, prosecutors on Tuesday charged the heir of a powerful clan who they say directed the slaughter of 57 people, more than half of them journalists. Three witnesses, who escaped because their car was at the tail end of the election convoy that was ambushed in a southern province Nov. 23 , said they saw Andal Ampatuan Jr. and about 100 gunmen, including police officers, stopping the cars, prosecutor Al Calica told The Associated Press. Hours later, troops found bullet-riddled and hacked-up bodies near the highway sprawled in the grass and hastily buried with a backhoe in ... Read Full Story

MANILA (Reuters) - Seven-time world boxing champion Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao registered as a candidate for a seat in the Philippines lower house of Congress on Tuesday, climbing into the political ring for the second time following a 2007 defeat. Accompanied by his family, Pacquiao attended a Catholic mass before marching to the poll body office in Alabel town on the southern island of Mindanao to submit his nomination papers under his own political party -- People's Champ Movement (PCM). "I am ready, there's no more turning back," Pacquiuao told a cheering crowd of supporters, confident of winning a title that eluded him at his ... Read Full Story

Some 1,000 journalists and activists marched Monday in the capital to protest the massacre in the southern Philippines of 57 civilians, including at least 30 journalists and their staff in the world's deadliest attack on the media. Clad mostly in black shirts and carrying a black mock coffin as well as placards calling for a stop to media killings, they demanded the arrest of all suspects in the Nov. 23 massacre in southern Maguindanao province. The massacre victims were in a convoy to cover a local politician's filing of his intention to run for governor in the predominantly Muslim province when dozens of gunmen ... Read Full Story

SAN FERNANDO, Philippines, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo filed to run for the country's Congress Tuesday, making her post-presidential plans official. Arroyo, followed by a mob of supporters, personally filed her certificate of candidacy at the Commission on Elections office in San Fernando, Philippines, the capital of her district north of Manila, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported. She had come to Manila from Lubao, where her supporters hosted a celebratory Catholic Mass and a short program that had the feel of a campaign rally for Arroyo and a farewell for her son, Juan Miguel Arroyo, who is resigning his Congressional seat ... Read Full Story

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo announced Monday she would seek to remain in politics after her term ends next year by running for a seat in parliament. "I will file my candidacy for congress in order to serve the hardworking people of my province," Arroyo, 62, said on government radio DZRB. "I hope to be a champion for the poor and to work to uplift the economy.... I will work for this from a position closer to the people." Arroyo will seek a lower house seat representing her home province of Pampanga. Critics allege Arroyo, who is mandated by the constitution to step down as ... Read Full Story