Zamboanga City, Philippines - Two marines were killed in an accidental grenade blast in the southern Philippines, a regional navy commander said Friday.

Commodore Alexander Pana said the accident occurred Thursday evening in the village of Comalig in Tipo-Tipo town, Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila.

He said details were still sketchy on how the grenade exploded, but noted the incident was "a plain accident" and not related to the military's offensive against Muslim militants in the province.

The military has stepped up its offensive against al-Qaeda-linked Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels in Basilan after a series of kidnappings by the guerrillas.

Manila - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Thursday ordered agriculture and health officials to closely monitor an outbreak of an Ebola virus strain in several pig farms in three northern provinces.

Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said Arroyo wanted agriculture authorities to prevent the Ebola Reston virus from spreading to other pig farms in the country.

Golez, a medical doctor, assured the public that the Ebola Reston virus found in the pigs was not harmful to humans.

Manila - Three men were killed when they were struck by falling rocks while panning for gold in a southern Philippine province, police said Thursday.

The accident happened on Wednesday on a creek in Compostela town, Compostela Valley province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, said police Senior Superintendent Ronald Dela Rosa.

Dela Rosa, the provincial police director, said the bodies of the victims were recovered Thursday.

Manila  - The Philippine Supreme Court has set aside a fund to reward people who can provide information leading to the capture and conviction of killers and attackers of Filipino judges, a court official said Thursday.

Justice Presbitero Velasco, chairman of the Supreme Court's committee on security, said the high tribunal has approved a one-million peso (23,833-dollar) fund financed by from the Philippine Judges Foundation.

Under the programme, tipsters will be awarded 100,000 pesos for information leading to the identity of suspects in the killing or attacks on judges. Another 100,000 pesos will be given upon conviction.

The reward fund was set up amid unabated attacks on members of the judiciary.

Manila - Pirates have freed 17 Filipino sailors after more than two months in captivity off Somalia, the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday.

The Filipinos were kidnapped in the Gulf of Aden on September 21 when heavily armed Somali pirates hijacked the Greek cargo ship MV Captain Stefanos.

Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos said the sailors were "safe and in good health" when they were freed on Monday evening. They were headed to Italy and then to Greece, where they would be met by the ship's owners.

"We are coordinating with the owners on their repatriation (to the Philippines)," Conejos said.

Cotabato City, Philippines - Thirteen Muslim separatist rebels and one soldier were killed in a firefight in the southern Philippines on Tuesday, the military said.

Eight soldiers were also wounded in the clash in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, brigade commander Colonel Marlou Salazar said.

The four-hour fight began when Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels opened fire at the soldiers who were sent to verify reports of gunmen harassing residents in the town, he said.