Deposed president Joseph Estrada, who once pulled off the Philippines’ biggest election victory, was sentenced to life in prison today after a landmark six-year trial on charges that he took bribes and kickbacks in office.

Security forces tried to disrupt plots by al Qaida-linked militants to stage attacks but failed to track them, setting off an alarm that influenced a decision to postpone a pair of Asian summits, officials said today.

A new “people power” revolt will erupt in the Philippines if movie star Fernando Poe Jr loses the presidential election through fraud, his party warned today – fighting words in a nation where popular protests have knocked two leaders out of office.

Security officers shot and killed the Philippines’ former top civil aviation administrator, and a navy reserve officer, who had seized the airport control tower in the capital Manila at gunpoint early today.

THE Philippines ordered a nationwide manhunt on Monday after one of the region’s top Islamic militants escaped from a high-security prison in Manila, apparently with the connivance of his guards.