MANILA: The death toll from the ambush by terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Sulu on Monday has risen to 23, the military said yesterday.
“As of 11am, the death toll in Sulu is already 23...The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has evacuated the wounded from the encounter site,” said AFP spokesperson Ramon Zagala yesterday.
The ambush happened on July 28 when the Abu Sayyaf gunmen, estimated at around 50, waylaid 40 civilians who were on board two vehicles on the way to Lumapid village in Talipao town of Sulu for Eid Al Fitr celebrations.
MANILA: The number of Filipino families who consider themselves poor rose by more than half a million in the past three months, a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.
Fifty-five percent of respondents or about 12.1 million rated themselves poor in the SWS nationwide survey.
The SWS survey was conducted from June 27 to 30 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 Filipino adults.
The latest poverty rate was higher by 600,000 from March’s 53 percent or equivalent to an estimated 11.5 million families, the SWS said.
The results of the SWS June 2014 poll were published in the newspaper BusinessWorld yesterday. AGENCIES
