Manila - The Philippines has stepped up screening of travellers from Mexico and other countries affected by an outbreak of a deadly swine flu virus, health authorities said Monday. Health Secretary Francisco Duque stressed that there was still no case of swine flu among humans in the Philippines.

"There is no report of swine flu among humans in the Philippines," he told a press conference.

But Duque urged the public to practice good hygiene to avoid getting sick amid growing concern over the outbreak of the swine flu virus in Mexico, the United States and Canada.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - One man was killed while three were wounded when a homemade bomb exploded in a beach resort in the southern Philippines, a regional military spokesman said Monday.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce said the explosion occurred late Sunday in the Besana Beach Resort in Lebak town in Sultan Kudarat province, 930 kilometres south of Manila.

Ponce said the bomb, made from a 60-millemetre mortar, exploded in an empty cottage adjacent to the cottage occupied by the victims.

Manila  - Four people were killed when an argument over the cutting of trees turned violent in the southern Philippines, a police report said Sunday.

Three people were also wounded when two warring groups fought with guns and machetes in Bislig City in the southern province of Surigao del Sur on Friday, the police report said.

The violence erupted when local officials of San Jose village stopped members of a local religious group from cutting trees along a national road.

Manila - The Philippines' agriculture department Saturday ordered a ban on the importation of pigs and pork products from Mexico and the United States amid an outbreak of swine flu virus in the two countries. The virus is suspected to have killed 68 people in Mexico over the past three weeks, while at least eight people have been infected in the US.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said he ordered the import ban as a "precautionary measure" despite no links so far between swine farms and the outbreak.

Manila - Five people were killed when a cargo truck plunged into a ravine Saturday on a northern Philippine highway, a police report said. One more passenger was injured in the accident that occurred at dawn along a highway in Diadi town in Nueva Vizcaya province, 395 kilometres north of Manila.

The victims were aboard the truck that was loaded with fruit and was on the way to nearby Isabela province.

Manila - Two Swiss men were arrested in a southern Philippine city for allegedly operating a cybersex den, a police report said Saturday. The two suspects were arrested Friday during a raid in a three-story house in Kauswagan village in the outskirts of Cagayan de Oro City, 835 kilometres south of Manila.

Seventeen young women, allegedly involved in the cybersex ring were also taken into custody by the raiding team. At least six of the women were caught performing sex acts before a camera attached to a computer which was connected to the internet.