The Philippine government today asked a large Muslim rebel group to help secure the freedom of an ailing Irish priest kidnapped by outlaws, as troops surrounded a jungle logging area where he was being held.

Troops and navy gunboats in the Philippines tried to encircle suspected Muslim militants to pressure them into releasing kidnapped priest Michael Sinnott, a military general said today.

An ailing 79-year-old Irish missionary dragged away at gunpoint from his southern Philippine residence is probably in the hands of Muslim militants seeking a ransom, officials said today.

At least 27 people were killed and 13 others injured when a tanker truck exploded on a mountain road in the southern Philippines, police said today.

RESCUERS began burying victims of a huge mudslide in the Philippines yesterday as hopes of finding more survivors all but evaporated.

Volunteers with two sniffer dogs dug around a mud-covered elementary school today but found no signs that any of the 250-300 children and teachers inside were still alive two days after a massive landslide.

An Italian missionary priest was rescued in the southern Philippines early today after nearly six months in captivity, officials said.