Philippines

By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by Linda Bordoni and Robin Gomes MANILA, PHILIPPINES (BosNewsLife) -- Two bomb blasts shook a Catholic cathedral in the troubled southern Philippines where Islamic militants are active, killing at least 20 people and wounding some 80 others, police officials said.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos MANILA, PHILIPPINES (BosNewsLife)-- Christian missionaries in the Philippines say "trigger-happy" President Rodrigo Duterte is enabling them to "spread the Gospel" and help drugs addicts and victims of Islamic terrorism. "Hundreds of thousands of users and sellers of illicit drugs have surrendered to avoid being gunned down by police under President Duterte's lethal crack-down," noted the Christian Aid Mission (CAM) group.

Listen to Alastair Wanklyn via Vatican Radio: By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by Correspondent Alastair Wanklyn ZAMBOANGA CITY (BosNewsLife)-- Hundreds of residents, including many Christians, remained trapped or were held hostage as fighting intensified in the Southern Philippines Saturday, September 14, between government forces and Muslim separatists in suburbs of Zamboanga city.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service MANILA, PHILIPPINES (BosNewsLife)-- About 200 Muslim rebels were holding a pastor and nearly 300 other people hostage on Monday, September 9, in the southern Philippines following fierce clashes with government forces that left at least eight people dead, officials and a Christian aid group said.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service MANILA, PHILIPPINES (BosNewsLife)-- A Protestant pastor who says he was tortured while being detained in the Philippines has warned of widespread killings and other attacks against church members in the Asian nation.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos MANILA, PHILIPPINES (BosNewsLife)-- A frail 79-year-old Irish Catholic priest, who was released after one month of captivity in the Philippines, denied Friday, November 13, that an Islamic rebel group had kidnapped him.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service with BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos MANILA, PHILIPPINES (BosNewsLife)-- An elderly Christian farmer who was abducted in the Philippines nearly a month ago has been beheaded by a group with links to the Al-Qaeda terror group, the latest in a series of attacks against Christians, rights investigators confirmed Tuesday, May 19.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service MANILA, PHILIPPINES (BosNewsLife)-- Muslim rebels joined forces to fight government troops Thursday, September 12, raising concerns about a pastor and several other Christians who were believed to remain among some 180 hostages in the southern Philippines.  

By BosNewsLife Asia Service MANILA, PHILIPPINES (BosNewsLife)-- Two men are dead and another remained missing Saturday, April 25, after some 40 Muslim militants raided the predominately Christian village of Sitio Arco in Basilan province in the southern Philippines, a Christian rights group said.