Cotabato City, Philippines  - Two soldiers were killed and two more wounded in a clash with unidentified gunmen in the southern Philippines, an army brigade commander said Wednesday.

The fighting erupted Tuesday evening when soldiers securing a highway in Baloi town in Lanao del Norte province, 810 kilometres south of Manila, encountered an undetermined number of heavily armed men, Colonel Benito De Leon said.

De Leon said there were no reported casualties on the enemy side.

Manila - A Philippine man nearly caused an air disaster in an eastern city when he used an airport runway to teach his girlfriend to drive just as a passenger plane was about to land, a local official said Tuesday.

A Cebu Pacific Air flight carrying 80 passengers was descending at the weekend at the airport in Legazpi City, 360 kilometres south-east of Manila, when the pilot quickly pulled up after he saw a passenger van moving fast on the runway.

Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal told the Philippine Star newspaper that the van was driven by the son of the city aviation chief who was teaching his girlfriend how to drive.

Manila  - The Philippines' unemployment rate rose to 7.7 per cent in January as tens of thousands of Filipinos lost their jobs or failed to find work amid the global economic crisis, the government said Tuesday.

The National Statistics Office said the January unemployment rate was up from the 7.4 per cent recorded in the same month last year.

The actual number of jobless people increased to 2.85 million in January from 2.67 million a year ago, according to the agency.

Zamboanga City, Philippines - Two people were killed in a grenade attack on a southern Philippine island where fighting erupted between government troops and Muslim militants holding captive three international Red Cross staff, police said Tuesday.

Three people were also wounded in the explosion Monday evening inside a karaoke bar in the port area of Jolo town on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, said Senior Superintendent Julasirim Kasim, the provincial police chief.

Manila - Remittances from overseas Filipinos rose a mere 0.1 per cent in January as the global economic crisis plunged many countries into recession, the government said Monday.

Central bank governor Amando Tetangco said remittances in January reached 1.265 billion dollars, barely higher than 1.264 billion dollars sent home in the same month last year.

Manila  - Fighting erupted Monday between Philippine troops and Muslim militants holding captive three international Red Cross staff on a southern island, wounding the leader of the kidnappers, the military said.

The fighting erupted when the Abu Sayyaf rebels tried to break through a cordon of government soldiers in Indanan town on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila.