More than 200 people have been injured by illegal firecrackers and celebratory gunfire in the Philippines despite a government scare campaign against reckless holiday revelries, officials said today.

A PHILIPPINE man obsessed with Superman has gone under the knife in a bizarre attempt to transform himself into his comic book hero, a report said.

A popular Philippines TV game show was forced to apologise after featuring a boy of six being mocked by the audience as he tried to dance and sing.

Nearly a month’s worth of rain fell in six hours today as Tropical Storm Ketsana slammed ashore in the Philippines, killing five people and stranding thousands on rooftops in the capital’s worst flooding in more than 42 years.

A stampede broke out early today outside a stadium near Manila where thousands had lined up to watch a popular game show, killing at least 88 people and injuring 280 others, officials said.

An eight-storey office building, leaning precariously for days in one of Manila’s busy shopping districts, collapsed today hours after occupants fled in panic following ominous creaking sounds and bursting water pipes.

At least seven people have been killed when a bomb exploded at a department store in General Santos, in the Philippines.