Typhoon Bopha ploughed across Mindanao Island on Tuesday, flattening whole towns in its path as hurricane-force winds brought torrential rain that triggered a deadly combination of floods and landslides.

Rescuers said they are looking for 380 missing persons while seeking help for more than 250,000 others who have taken shelter in schools, gyms and other buildings after losing everything.

Of the dead, 258 were found on the east coast of Mindanao while 191 were recovered in and around New Bataan and Monkayo, said the head of an army division involved in the search.

President Benigno Aquino has sent food and other supplies by ship to 150,000 people on Mindanao's east coast where three towns remain cut off by landslides and wrecked bridges.

ndia and the Philippines have decided to enhance mutual cooperation in tourism sector. This was decided at the second meeting of the Joint Working Group on Tourism Cooperation held in New Delhi today. Both the countries decided to identify areas for working together and exploring new opportunities in the sector, especially in the field of research and development, education and training and promotion and marketing. The two sides also exchanged views for establishing mechanism to encourage exchange of information and data related to tourist arrivals and tourism resources to understand the dynamics of tourism sector in each others’ country. The two sides emphasised exchanging of visits of tour operators, media persons related to tourism and opinion makersthat important to promote tourism.

Announcement

A Philippine court today granted bail to former president Gloria Arroyo, saying the charge of vote fraud for which she has been detained for eight months is weak. 

The Pasay City regional trial court, which is hearing the case, said Arroyo could be released from the military hospital where she was being detained. However, the court said she could not leave the country.
Arroyo, 65, was arrested at an exclusive hospital shortly after immigration authorities blocked her at Manila airport while trying to leave the country in November. She was charged with electoral sabotage(काम करने वालों का यंत्र आदि बिगाड़ देना), a crime punishable with life in jail, for allegedly conspiring with a feared political warlord to rig the 2007 senatorial elections.

The Philippine government will allow Indian nationals who are regular international travelers to enter the country without a visa and stay for up to 21 days. Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. today said he issued a memorandum circular allowing Indian nationals to enter the Philippines visa-free so long as they are holders of a valid visa from the European Union or any of the six countries of the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. He said Indian nationals who avail of this scheme will be granted an initial stay of 14 days, which may be extended for an additional seven days. David said, however, that the visa-free stay of a frequent Indian traveler is only for a maximum of 21 days.

Previously, Indian tourists were required to apply for an entry visa with a Philippine consulate in their port of origin before coming to the country. According to David, the new policy is based on a Department of Foreign Affairs circular issued in February. The circular aims to draw more foreign tourists to the Philippines.

The Philippines has withdrawn its biggest warship from a disputed area in the South China Sea, in an apparent attempt to lessen tensions with China over a naval standoff in the disputed waters. The Foreign Affairs Secretary said today that a smaller coast guard boat will replace the warship at the Scarborough Shoal, located about 230 kilometers off the northwestern Philippines. The standoff began Tuesday when two Chinese surveillance vessels blocked the Philippines warship, the U.S.-built Gregorio del Pilar, from arresting a group of Chinese fishermen there. Both sides say they prefer a diplomatic solution to the crisis. But Philippine officials say China sent a third vessel, a boat from Beijing's fishing bureau, to the region today, as Beijing appeared to harden its resolve.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said his government is committed to protecting its sovereign right to the group of islands, which are known as Panatag in the Philippines, and as Huangyan Island in China.

North Korean rocket launch, developments in Myanmar and disputes over the South China Sea are expected to dominate Southeast Asia's annual diplomatic summit, ASEAN that begins tomorrow at Phnom Penh in Cambodia. 

The stated focus of the two day Summit is on turning the 10 nations and their combined population of 600 million into a European Union-like community by 2015.

 North Korea is not a member of the group, but some leaders are expected to voice alarm over Pyongyang's plan to fire a long-range rocket this month.

Territorial conflicts in the resource-rich South China Sea will almost certainly be raised.China, Taiwan and ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei all make various claims on the sea, which China claims in its entirety. 

The Philippines and Vietnam in particular have been at odds with Beijing over the region in recent months, with diplomatic clashes erupting over oil and gas exploration and fishing rights.