PHILIPPINE

The Philippines is made up of 7,107 islands covering a land area of 115,739 sq. m. (299,764 sq. km.). Main island groups are Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Capital is Manila. Time Zone is GMT + 8 hours.

PHILIPPINE CLIMATE

March to May is hot and dry. June to October is rainy, November to February is cool. Average temperatures: 78°F / 25°C to 90°F / 32°C; humidity is 77%.

PHILIPPINE POPULATION

There are a total of 76.5 million Filipinos as of the latest national census in May, 2000. Population growth is estimated at 2.36 percent annually. Luzon, the largest island group, accounts for more than half of the entire population.

PHILIPPINE LANGUAGES

Two official languages --- Filipino and English. Filipino which is based on Tagalog, is the national language. English is also widely used and is the medium of instruction in higher education.

Eight (8) major dialects spoken by majority of the Filipinos: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinense.

Filipino is that native language which is used nationally as the language of communication among ethnic groups. Like any living language, Filipino is in a process of development through loans from Philippine languages and non-native languages for various situations, among speakers of different social backgrounds, and for topics for conversation and scholarly discourse. There are about 76 to 78 major language groups, with more than 500 dialects.

RELIGIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Some 80% of Filipinos are Catholic. About 15% are Moslem. The rest are made up of smaller Christian denominations and Buddhist.

UNIT OF MEASURE USED IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

The Metric System is used in most trade and legal transactions.

ELECTRICITY

220 volts a/c is the common standard. 110 volts a/c is also used, especially in major hotels.

PHILIPPINE CURRENCY

The Philippines monetary unit is the peso, divided into 100 centavos. Foreign currency may be exchanged at any hotels, most large department stores, banks, and authorized money changing shops accredited by the Central Bank of the Philippines. International credit cards such as Visa, Diners Club, Bank Americard, Master Card, and American Express are accepted in major establishments.

TODAY IN THE PHILIPPINES -- News

• Thousands in S Philippines flee as troops attack Abu Sayyaf gunmen
  Thousands of terrified Philippine civilians fled on Thursday as Philippine security forces staged an assault on Al-Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf gunmen in volatile south Philippines.
  
  
• Law bars Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi from elections
  Aung Sun Suu Kyi is seen in a taped message on a television screen in Manila, Philippines, August 2002.
  
  
• Philippines' Arroyo vows smooth power transition
  MANILA: Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo vowed on Wednesday to oversee a smooth transfer of power, allaying fears soldiers may intervene in May elections after she installed a loyal general as army chief.
  
  
• Arcelie Laoagan killed by traumatic blow to head: medical examiner
  Arcelie Laoagan died from a severe blow to the head, the forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy on her body testified on Thursday.
  
  
• Repairmen from central Philippines keep Prague-based firm warm
  PRAGUE , Czech Republic Frosty weather and a global crisis failed to chill a multinational company here since acting as reliable recruiter and benevolent employer to foreign workers from central Philippines.
  
  
• Philippines election: Doubts arise over electronic voting machines
  Concerns are rising that the use of electronic voting machines in the May Philippines election, meant to prevent vote-rigging, could fail due to technical problems and end up threatening rather than reinforcing the credibility of the ballot.
  
  
• Philippines Independence Day event launched
  ATI Produksyon and Beats Bytes Production, both community partners of the Philippine embassy of Qatar, recently managed and directed the launch of the 112th Philippine Independence Day Celebration at Millennium Hotel, officials said.
  
  
• Summertime in the Philippines and the Livin' Ain't Easy
  Did you read today's front page stories & breaking news? SYS-CON.TV 2009 East IBM IBM Microsoft Windows Azure Appsense Why VDI? CA Maximizing the Business Value of Virtualization in Enterprise and Cloud Computing Environments ExactTarget Messaging in the Cloud - Email, SMS and Voice Commentary The Reservoirs are Drying Up, the Fish are Ding, Yet ...
  
  
• Drought imperils rice terraces in Philippines
  BAYOMBONG: Banaue town in Ifugao province, where the famous rice terraces are located, has been placed under a state of calamity due to the continued dry spell caused by the El Nino phenomenon that has dried up rice fields.
  
  
• Suspected militants killed in Philippines
  Marines killed seven suspected Abu Sayyaf members during a pre-dawn raid in the southern Philippines, state-run media reported.
  
  
• Philippine health chief takes on powerful Catholic church ...
  On Valentine's Day, Philippine government health workers hit the streets of Manila to hand out roses and condoms to passers-by. The message was clear in a country with a relatively small but rapidly growing HIV-positive population: Avoid unprotected sex.
  
  
• The Consul General's Corner -- Philippines Simplifies Procedures for...
  In the light of typhoons and other recent calamities, the Philippine Government has simplified procedures in the acceptance of donated relief goods for the victims of such calamities.
  
  
• 12 killed as bus rams into tree in north Philippines
  MANILA: Twelve people were killed when a bus carrying vacationers slammed into a tree in the northern Philippines, police said Sunday.
  
  
• 7 terrorists killed in S Philippines
  Seven members of terrorist Abu Sayyaf group, including two women, were killed in a raid at an island in Siasi town in southern Philippine Province of Sulu early Sunday morning, a military commander said.
  
  
• Philippine marines kill 7 suspected militants
  Police and military escort two of three alleged members of the Abdul Basit Usman's terror cell, center and center left in blue, following a news conference Friday, March 5, 2010, at the Armed Forces of the Philippines headquarters at Manila's Quezon city.
  
  
• MANILA, Philippines (AP) Philippine marines kill 7 suspected...
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• Philippines arrests JI bombers
  Three men suspected of being local allies of the Jemaah Islamiyah militant group were arrested in the Philippines Wednesday while allegedly planning a bombing attack, police and military said.
  
  
• Communist rebels kill 11 Philippine soldiers
  MANILA, Philippines a " Communist rebels ambushed a Philippine army platoon south of Manila on Saturday, killing at least 11 soldiers and wounding seven others in one of the military's largest recent losses, an army spokesman said.About 60 New People's Army guerrillas who ambushed the soldiers outside Mansalay township in Mindoro Oriental province ...
  
  
• Counterterrorism Effective in The Philippines
  Under the cover of darkness on Feb. 21, a 30-man Philippines marine special operations platoon crawled into a jungle encampment of Abu Sayyaf terrorists.
  
  
• New Market Report: Philippines Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report Q2 2010
  This rate of expansion is lower than that seen in recent years - the 2003-08 CAGR was 14.96% - because of a deteriorating macroeconomic environment.