Articles from the author

Deposed president Joseph Estrada cannot go back to his old job and cannot regain his title because he has lost the support of his business associates and his followers, a senior official said yesterday.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered certain amenities to be granted to former leader Joseph Estrada and his son Jinggoy in prison, after both were arrested on Wednesday and charged with plunder.

The arrival of U.S. warships and fighter planes for an 11-day joint U.S.-Philippine Naval exercise has set off speculation that the U.S. will aid the government's military rescue operation against the rebel Abu Sayyaf which took 20 people hostage in the southern Philippines last Sunday.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has called for a military revamp, following the inept way the Armed Forces handled the Abu Sayyaf group which recently kidnapped a total of 59 hostages in Palawan and Basilan, southern Philippines.

The horrific experience of escaping a beheading attempt was recounted by Eldrin Morales, the security guard at Dos Palmas Resort in Palawan, south-western Philippines, by the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan, southern Philippines.

The Abu Sayyaf Group says it wants $1 million to release two U.S. nationals it abducted from a posh resort in Palawan in May.

President Estrada's political and economic managers have drawn up a post-acquittal plan to help repair damaged relations with opposition leaders and revive the country's struggling economy.

New Philippines President Gloria Arroyo retained old cabinet members, but added new ones who were associated with former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos.