Malaysia is experiencing a critical shortage of foreign labor and is in need of foreign workers, Labor and Employment Secretary Patrica A. Sto. Tomas said yesterday.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) will remain on full alert status due to the 112th Inter-Parliamentary Union General Assembly at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City, PNP chief Director General Arturo C. Lomibao said yesterday.

Opposition Senator Alfredo S. Lim called yesterday for the reimplementation of the old-fashioned but effective warrantless arrest of fugitives and criminals as an effective tool in the anti-crime and anti-terrorism efforts of the government.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday brushed aside speculations that a number of Filipinos have joined Islamic militants in Iraq as the government is trying to verify reports that a number of Filipinos were among those killed in an attack by the United States on a rebel training camp in Iraq.

Filipino negotiators are confident a Filipino hostage seized in Iraq in November is still alive, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Four members of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim extremist group were killed and a Marine was wounded in a clash in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, the military said Monday.

Rizal statues up in time for his birth anniversary

The Iraqi Interior Ministry has confirmed that there were no Filipinos killed or captured during the recent raid by United States and Iraqi forces on a rebel training camp in Iraq, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

NINOY AQUINO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT — A visiting US State Department official left for Bangkok, Thailand yesterday after paying a courtesy call on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Majority Leader Prospero Nograles of the House of Representatives yesterday welcomed a House Committee on Ethics probe on a congressman’s alleged $20,000 per day hotel accommodation splurge during the Manny Pacquiao-Erik Morales fight in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States two weeks ago.

The Pinag-Isang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) continued their noise barrage yesterday morning, this time at the Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City, along with various transport groups, as Southern Tagalog Region-based transport groups announced yesterday that they will stage a transport strike tomorrow, Thursday, March 31, to protest the almost weekly oil price hike and the Oil Deregulation Law and the 12-percent Expanded Value-Added Tax (EVAT) bill.

Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the agency known as the global advocate of children and children’s rights, will visit Manila on April 2-5.

A lawmaker representing a party-list group will stage a hunger strike for an indefinite period of time to protest the killings of leaders and members of progressive organizations.

Abu Sayyaf speedboat seized