Arab News Editorial – The death toll resulting from Sunday’s devastating floods caused by Typhoon Ketsana in Manila and elsewhere in the Philippines continues to rise. But while nothing can be done for the dead other than recover and bury their bodies, a great deal can be done for the living. (more…)

By ISHAAN THAROOR – In Manila, millions of residents now live in a world of mud. Torrential rain over the weekend triggered the worst flooding the Philippines’ capital has seen in over four decades, submerging more than 80% of the city, killing at least 246 people and displacing hundreds of thousands more. (more…)

By Neal Cruz – Storm “Ondoy” was a great equalizer. The flood treated everybody, rich and poor, equally. It didn’t play favorites, exempting no one. It made everybody miserable. Celebrities and the influential suffered along with the poor. (more…)

The Philippine agricultural sector and infrastructure have suffered enormous damage from tropical storm “Ondoy” pegged at P4.69 billion, based on the report issued by the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) at 3 p.m., Tuesday. (more…)

By Virginia M. Moncrieff – Like any Asian capital city, Manila is a magnet for people from the countryside wanting to make a better living. The city groans to over capacity; squatter villages and shanty towns spring up and ten years later they have taken permanent hold with their own infrastructure (usually involving illegal electricity and water supplies), their own laws, their own endless cycle of poverty as inhabitants marry each other and the shanty towns spread further and the cycle continues. (more…)

(CNN) — Huddled on the top floor of her home after waist-deep water inundated the lower story, Doranne Lim is bothered by the debris — and the smell. (more…)

MANILA, Philippines – A soldier saved 20 people from raging floodwaters during rescue operations but lost his own life when he drowned later in Famy town, Laguna. (more…)