Nestor Dedolido was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital after two men on a motorcycle shot him at close range outside a bar he owned in the southern city of Digos on Saturday night, police said in an incident report.

Dedolido was a reporter for Kastigador, a weekly allegedly financed by a group of politicians and his death may have been related to his work, police said.

"I believe the killing of my father is politically motivated. There is a politician involved," Dedolido's son, Marxlen Dedolido, 22, told reporters without elaborating.

The Philippines is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists.

Broadcaster Desidario Camangyan, 52, was shot dead by a gunman who walked onstage as the victim hosted a village singing contest in the southern Philippines on Monday.

A day later, Lito Agustin, 37, a radio reporter, was ambushed and shot dead as he rode a motorcycle home. Both men were known as outspoken critics of corrupt local officials.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines condemned the killings and pressed President-elect Benigno Aquino to ensure the murders were quickly solved.

Dedolido's death brought to 140 the number of journalists killed in the Philippines since 1986, the year a popular revolt ended the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship and restored press freedom, the union said.

"The enemies of press freedom are on a killing spree," Nonoy Espina, the union's vice chairman, told AFP.

"But it is more than that, it shows that the level of impunity is just so high that they believe they can get away with murder no matter who sits as president."

"Aquino has to hit the ground running from day one."

Detlev Mehlis, who leads an EU-funded program helping to train police and prosecutors in solving the killings, said he was outraged by the wave of muders this week.

"This is simply unacceptable. In a democracy, freedom of the press is essential," Mehlis told AFP.

"It's the job of government to protect its people. These crimes should be solved and we are ready to assist in any way we can."

Last year was the bloodiest for journalists, with 32 reporters among 57 people killed in a massacre blamed on a political warlord in the southern Philippines, press monitoring groups said.

A gun culture, a free-wheeling press and massive corruption are some of the factors that make the Southeast Asian nation dangerous for journalists.

Criminal gangs, politicians and other powerful interests typically murder journalists to silence them and intimidate other media workers."

The UN stressed that the Philippines was a signatory to an international treaty on the rights of children that commits member countries to providing proper information to girls and boys about their bodies.

"It is the obligation of the state to ensure that all adolescent girls and boys are provided with accurate and appropriate information on how to protect their health and practice healthy behaviours," the UN said in a statement.

"The United Nations will continue to work with government... to respect, fulfill and protect the rights of girls and boys to comprehensive information regarding their health and their bodies.

"Global evidence shows that giving clear, appropriate information to adolescents does not increase promiscuity but helps them make responsible decisions."

The government this week began introducing its Adolescent Reproductive Health programme in 80 public elementary and 79 high schools.

The scheme will later be expanded nationwide, in what the government said could hopefully reduce the country's high population growth rate, limit unwanted teenage pregnancies and prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines attacked the programme, warning that it encouraged promiscuity among the youth.

The bishops demanded that the government stop the programme, saying that sex education was better left to parents and taught within the confines of the home.

The UN on Friday acknowledged that parents played a pivotal role in teaching their children about their sexuality, but noted that people in authority such as teachers or doctors could explain the process better.

The government has often locked horns with church leaders over population control issues in this devoutly Catholic nation of more than 90 million people.

In one instance, church leaders called for the sacking of the health secretary after she launched a campaign to hand out free condoms on Valentine's Day this year as part of the battle against HIV and AIDS."

Of AIDS en HIV nu al of niet een ernstig probleem zijn hier, durf ik te betwijfelen. De Filipijnen staan niet meteen bekend als een destinatie voor toeristen om aan sex te doen. Niet zoals bijvoorbeeld Thailand.
Het kan evenwel geen kwaad om aan preventie te doen. De Filipijnen proberen, net als vele andere Aziatische landen, om zich te ontwikkelen. Ontwikkeling komt met een prijskaartje. Ontwikkeling in Aziatische  (net zoals in Afrikaanse) landen, komt meestal met een medisch prijskaartje dat buitensporig is.
Hoedanook, de aanbeveling van de Katholieke Kerk hier dat sexuele voorlichting best door de ouders kan worden gegeven is bespottelijk. Miljoenen volwassenen hier hebben amper of nooit onderwijs genoten, vanwege te duur. Io vroege leeftijd moesten miljoenen hier al uit werken gaan om toch iets in het huishoudelijk laatje te brengen. Gedeeltelijk door traditie (de mensen zweren hier bij grote gezinnen waarvan de kinderen dan wel zullen zorgen voor de ouders, grootouders enz, als die te oud worden om nog te werken) en gedeeltelijk door gebrekkig of onvoldoende onderwijs, worden er hier alsmaar meer kinderen gemaakt omdat men toch niet weet hoe dat te voorkomen. Miljoenen groeien dus op voor galg en rad, zoals dat ooit heette, en ongeacht hoe het tegenwoordig heet, groeien op zonder veel perspektieven op werk en het onderhouden van een zelfbestaan.
Was het anders in Europa in de vijftiger jaren ? Het was geenszins anders in Europa vijfhonderd jaar geleden...
Tijden zijn veranderd. Tijd heeft de dogma's van de Katholieke Kerk in Europa de das omgedaan. Dat zal het ook hier doen.

Van Besien zegt dat Groen! wel gewonnen is voor een versterking van de regio's, meer homogene bevoegdheidspakketten en een splitsing van Brussel-Halle-Vilvoorde. Die splitsing van BHV en de staatshervorming worden volgens Van Besien best parallel met de socio-economische uitdagingen aangepakt."

"Voor de Senaat zijn nu alle voorkeurstemmen geteld. N-VA-voorzitter Bart De Wever haalt een monsterscore van 764.904 voorkeurstemmen. Daarmee blijft hij net onder de fenomenale score die Yves Leterme in 2007 neerzette (796.521).

Maar De Wever blaast de concurrentie wel weg. Zo is CD&V-voorzitster Marianne Thyssen op ruime afstand tweede met 314.850 voorkeurstemmen. Open Vld-voorzitter Alexander De Croo kreeg 288.850 stemmen achter zijn naam. Op plaats vier staat de eerste Franstalige, PS-kopstuk Paul Magnette met 264.167 voorkeurstemmen. VB-lijsttrekker Filip Dewinter haalt 194.107 stemmen, voor de twee sp.a'ers Johan Vande Lanotte (179.867) en Frank Vandenbroucke (167.932). De top-10 wordt vervolledigd door ontslagnemend Senaatsvoorzitter Armand De Decker (148.673), CD&V'er Rik Torfs (140.729) en MR-kopstuk Louis Michel (127.878)."

De kans is groot dat Elio Di Rupo (PS) premier wordt. Eindelijk nog eens een Franstalige premier, na vele jaren van Vlaams overwicht in het premierschap ! Het kan niet slechter gaan dan het in de laatste jaren ging, veronderstel ik, of ben ik nog altijd een naieveling ?
Wat kunnen we nu verwachten in Belgie ? N-VA heeft een zogenaamde monsterscore behaald maar de term "monsterscore" wordt vaak en onnodig in de mond genomen. Telkens wanneer VB in het recente verleden winst behaalde waren dat meestal ook "monsterscores".  De kiezers hebben langzaamaan begrepen dat VB nooit aan het bewind zal komen, dus hebben zij nu gekozen voor het dichtste alternatief: N-VA.
Zoals altijd echter in Belgie wint er noot 1 enkele partij genoeg om alleen te regeren. Zoals altijd dienen er coalities gesloten te worden... En uiteindelijk blijft alles min of meer zoals het is, was en zal zijn.
Dat is een kenmerk van "de oude wereld" waarin de kiezers wel ontevreden zijn maar nooit in die mate ontevreden dat er een ware politieke aardverschuiving wordt veroorzaakt.
"Monsterscore" blijkt al net zo hol te klinken als "moeder van" (alle oorlogen,alle watdanook, zoals al zo vaak klonk uit de monden van fanatieke moslimleiders overal ter wereld).
Uiteindelijk blijkt het monster de onmacht te zijn om degelijk te regeren over een land. Dit monster steekt ook zijn kop op in de Filipijnen. Maar ondanks alle ellende, derdewereldmentaliteit die door eerstewereldlanden aan derdewereldlanden aangewreven wordt, lijken er nog steeds veel dingen mogelijk hier, ook veranderingen.
In Belgue lijkt niets meer mogelijk, alleen het schreeuwen van betekenisloze slogans.

In de Filipijnen grijpen intussen alsmaar meer dramatische gebeurtenissen plaats, zoals (nog een nieuwskommentaar van de afgelopen dagen):
Islamist militants in the southern Philippines beheaded two loggers they abducted just hours earlier, police said on Saturday.Police on Basilan island retrieved the headless corpses of the two victims early Saturday after they were abducted by Abu Sayyaf gunmen while at work, said local police chief Antonio Mendoza.It was the second report of killings of civilians by the Abu Sayyaf on Basilan this month.Abu Sayyaf was set up with seed money from Al-Qaeda in the early 1990s and is suspected by the military of tactical ties with Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian Islamist group blamed for several attacks in Indonesia.Brigadier-General Eugene Clemen, commander of the Philippine Marine forces on Basilan, said the latest victims were murdered late Friday, hours after they were taken."They had been warned not to venture in that area because it was dangerous," Clemen said of the loggers, adding they had no official permit to cut trees in the area.Most of the Abu Sayyaf's top leaders have been killed or arrested in military operations backed by US Special Forces troops providing training and intelligence, but the rebels continue to pose a security threat.

Alweer slecht nieuws voor de nieuw verkozen president hier. Het monster van de religieuze apartheid is hier sterk aanwezig. Alsmaar meer monsters, en alsmaar minder zekerheid...

Just three days before up to 50 million Filipinos go to the polls, the son of national democracy heroine Corazon Aquino said he was buoyed by the latest survey results but urged his supporters to be vigilant against skullduggery.

"We are very grateful to our countrymen. They saw the validity of our message and they saw that we were sincere," Aquino said after the survey showed 42 percent of Filipinos intended to vote for him to be their next president.

"(But) those who are thinking of cheating may be more active... so we should be more determined that the will of the people will be triumphant on Monday."

Aquino, 50, is a balding bachelor who spent the past decade as a low-key congressman and senator.

But he has defied his rivals' attempts to portray him as an uncharismatic political lightweight by tapping into popular sentiment for his revered mother, who died of cancer last year.

Corazon Aquino led the "people power" revolution that overthrew dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, then served as the nation's president for six years.

She earned a reputation for being above much of the corruption that plagues the Philippines, and her son has similarly campaigned on a platform of clean governance.

His main rival in the election appears to be former president Joseph Estrada, 73, who was deposed in 2001 amid graft allegations for which he was later convicted.

Estrada climbed past business titan Manny Villar with 20-percent support, according to the survey released on Friday by polling body Social Weather Stations.

Villar, who had long been seen as Aquino's main rival, slumped to 19 percent from 26 percent recorded in the previous survey carried out in mid-April. Aquino's numbers were up from 38 percent.

The survey was the last major opinion poll to be released ahead of Monday's election to choose a new president, members of parliament and thousands of other government posts for the Southeast Asian nation of 90 million people.

Philippine presidential elections are decided simply by whomever receives the largest amount of votes.

Estrada secured the most emphatic win in Philippine electoral history in 1998 when he received 39 percent of the vote.

Aquino, who was set to make his final campaign rally on Friday night to tens of thousands of people in Manila, said efforts to steal the election from him were his greatest concern, and not any legitimate challenge from his rivals.

"If the people are allowed to vote and their votes are counted properly, I think I will win," he said.

Philippine elections have long been tainted by cheating and violence.

Critics of President Gloria Arroyo, who is required by constitutional term limits to step down on June 30, accused her of using illegal means to win the last election in 2004, charges that she denies.

Concerns about the credibility of this year's election were fuelled by a technical blunder from the election commission this week which forced it to recall faulty memory cards for the nearly 80,000 vote counting machines.

The commission has insisted it can replace the cards in time for the election, but Aquino and the other presidential candidates have all said they fear the nation's first attempt at using computers to count votes could fail.

Estrada filed a motion with the Supreme Court on Friday to delay the election so there would be more time to ensure all the technical glitches were ironed out.

It was not clear if the court would look at his motion before the elections.

As the politician's yellow-clad volunteers spread leaflets around, community organiser Teodosia Gacer ambushes them with a list of what she claims are undelivered promises to the slum's more than 30,000 residents.

"We have not seen you around here since the last election three years ago -- when we helped you win!," Gacer tells the sweating politician, who is obviously embarrassed as a small crowd gathers around.

"You people only come here whenever you need our votes, but disappear on us once you win."

The politician stammers an apology, and whips out a two-page resolution he authored temporarily stopping an impending eviction as proof he had been working on their behalf after all.

Squatting under the shadow of a huge mall and the Philippine capital's overhead railway, the 37-hectare (91-acre) North Triangle in suburban Quezon city is one among many sprawling shanty towns blighting the metropolis.

About 35 percent of Manila's 12-million population live in these colonies, according to the World Health Organization.

Often cursed as a haven for petty criminals and outcasts, these slums are rich in votes and turn into a political force during election season that could make or break a candidate's career.

Politicians have been braving the slums weeks ahead of Monday's national election, when 50 million voters are eligible to pick a new president, members of congress and thousands of other government posts.

In North Triangle, candidates kiss the cheeks of babies swathed in dirty clothes and mingle with men stroking the feathers of their fighting cocks.

"We allow them to come here and hang their campaign materials, regardless of party affiliation. But of course, we vote for those who can protect us," Gacer told AFP.

"Others vote for those who bring blessings," she said, using a euphemism for monetary bribes offered by candidates.

A 54-year-old mother of two adult children, Gacer heads a non-profit organisation that provides basic services and conducts voter education campaigns for North Triangle residents.

She said it was no secret that many slum dwellers sold their votes because money remained their only tangible and immediate benefit.

"The political strategy of (candidates') coordinators is to go on last-minute house to house on the eve of elections," Gacer said.

"They will knock and go inside homes to make sure they get their votes. They place money inside sample ballots. The smallest amount is 500 pesos (11 dollars)."

That is a kingly sum that will go a long way in an area where eating three square meals a day is a luxury.

"That is democracy at work for you. These politicians steal the money from public funds anyway, and we just take a small amount back on election day," Gacer said.

For 53-year-old Rosalinda Caspe the bribe money brings much needed nourishment to her 15 children and grand-children, who live with her in a small, windowless shack.

"Of course I've taken money... life is so hard. I used the money to buy rice and food," the jobless widow said. "My reasoning is, it is the public's money anyway, why should I not accept it?"

She said that in the local elections three years ago, she was paid twice by just tagging along caravans of opposing politicians.

While no politician will openly admit to buying votes, they acknowledge the importance of slum-dwellers to their election hopes.

"I rely on my voters in the squatters depressed areas," Manila mayor Alfredo Lim told AFP while on the campaign trail in the city's Tondo slums.

He said he had never bribed a voter, but estimated that "about 90 percent" of those who will vote for him will likely come from the slums.

Het is niet zozeer dat inwoners van die sloppenwijken (kiezers dus) hun omgeving willen verlaten. Misschien zullen ze dat wel doen als ze de mogelijkheid krijgen. Maar wat ze vooral willen is verbetering van de leefomstandigheden. Als politici eindelijk eens begonnen  met het opknappen van sloppenwijken, zou dat al heel wat betekenen. Nu echter wordt volstaan met af en toe zogenaamde "opruimingsakties" houden wat zoveel inhoudt als mensen uit hun krotten verdrijven uit "humanitaire" overwegingen (gebrekkige elektriciteitsvoorziening, brandgevaar, overstromingsgevaar...) en geen alternatief bieden om ergens anders onderdak te krijgen. De mensen die uit hun krotten verdreven worden moeten maar op eigen houtje zien verder te raken.

The jewels were seized after a popular revolt in 1986 toppled Ferdinand Marcos from power, sending him, his wife Imelda and their family into exile in the US. The dictator died in Hawaii 21 years ago.

The government has charged that during the 20 years he was in power, Marcos and his family stole billions from the state, spending much of it on jewellery, expensive artwork and high-priced US real estate.

Imelda Marcos became famous for her jet-setting lifestyle during her husband's presidency, amassing a huge collection of shoes and spending large amounts on luxuries while her country sank into poverty.

Despite numerous charges filed against her, she has never been convicted and is running for a seat in Congress.

The government had earlier considered auctioning the jewels but political opposition halted the plan.

Imelda  Marcos is een overblijfsel van oude, en niet zo gelukkige, tijden in de Filipijnen. Van een regime dat door de USA gesteund wordt tot het moment dat het voor de USA niet langer aanvaardbaar was... Waar hebben we dat nog gehoord ? In Irak met Saddam Hussein ? In Zuid-Amerika ?
Gaat er nog echt iemand voor haar stemmen hier ?

The iconic vehicles with their flamboyant paint designs are much loved as a symbol of national ingenuity because Filipinos created them from surplus US military jeeps after American forces left at the end of World War II.

However, six decades later, they are also becoming known as environmental vandals because their huge diesel-powered motors are one of the major contributors to air pollution and ensuing health problems in Philippine cities.

"Because the old jeepneys are all diesel fed and so inefficient, they produce a lot of pollution," said Red Constantino, director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, a Manila-based non-government organisation.

Constantino, along with a small collection of politicians, business groups and other NGOs, has embarked on a campaign to turn the Philippines' main form of public transport green by replacing them with so-called "e-jeepneys".

The e-jeepneys look like little more than glorified golf carts, but they are an emissions-free form of transport powered by electricity that carry a dozen people each.

After charging for between six and eight hours, the e-jeepneys can travel about 70 kilometres (45 miles) at speeds of up to 60 kilometres an hour, according to their manufacturer, Philippine Utility Vehicle.

Makati, Metro Manila's financial district and arguably its most orderly city, introduced the e-jeepneys on two so-called "green routes" late last year.

"Because of the e-jeepney we were able to reduce smoke-belching problems... and that was able to give an answer to our problems of air pollution," Makati mayor Jejomar Binay told AFP on board one of the mini-buses recently.

With only 15 servicing Makati, compared with 60,000 licensed traditional jeepneys across all of Metro Manila, Binay may have been overstating the environmental benefits in his enthusiasm for the project.

Nevertheless, Constantino, a former climate change campaigner for Greenpeace, said the Makati project was crucial in offering a showcase for the future.

"It's very important to have solutions on the ground to show people that these types of things are viable," he said.

"Our goal is to eventually replace all public utility vehicles with appropriate electric ones."

Constantino said momentum was starting to build, with a third green route to be opened in Makati next month and other city governments in Metro Manila placing orders to buy e-jeepneys.

Meanwhile, Puerto Princesa, the capital of Palawan island in the southwest of the archipelago, is developing as a second flagship city for the planned e-transport revolution.

Puerto Princesa authorities are aiming to introduce an e-jeepney fleet, but their major ambition is to replace the city's 4,000 gasoline-powered tricycles with electric "e-trikes", Constantino said.

A big next step for Puerto Princesa and Makati is to build biogas plants to power the e-vehicles with organic waste from local markets and households, rather than using fossil-fuel derived electricity as is currently the case.

Puerto Princesa began construction of a one-megawatt biogas plant, costing 2.4 million dollars, in February to fuel its electric public transport fleet.

Tropical storm Ketsana, which submerged vast parts of Manila in October last year, delayed a similar project for Makati but Constantino said that would also soon get underway.

Amid the hype for the e-jeepneys -- they have won a plethora of positive reports in the local media -- traditional jeepney drivers remain skeptical.

"We are not against e-jeeps, we know they are for our common good but they only work in Makati where roads are smooth," said Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines president Zeny Maranan.

"I also want to see how long e-jeeps will last for. And I see maintenance as a problem... our current jeepneys have durable chassis and bodies that can withstand collisions. How about an e-jeep, how sturdy is it?"

Nevertheless, Maranan conceded that old jeepneys -- with powerful engines and bodies originally designed for battle rather than city traffic -- had serious environmental flaws.

"It is difficult to deny the fact about the black smoke emissions and poor performances of our jeepneys," she said.

Maranan said the jeepney industry was exploring ways of switching the vehicles' fuel source from diesel to natural gas.

However few conversions have taken place and Maranan said a green revolution would not happen without massive state funding.

"The government should take the initiative to save our environment. If it will provide the budget, we are willing to take part and have the e-jeep system implemented," she said.

Constantino and the others involved in the e-jeepney are refusing to wait for such an unlikely scenario to occur.

"We are trying to make the solutions of tomorrow available today," he said.