Twelve followers of a self-described Philippine Sultan died in a shootout with Malaysian security forces Friday, police said, as tensions ratcheted up in their 17-day standoff.

Hamza Taib, police chief of the Malaysian state of Sabah, also said two security personnel were killed and that the standoff with the Filipino intruders continued, contradicting earlier official statements suggesting it was over.

A powerful 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on Saturday triggering panic, but there were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties.

The quake struck at 12:37 pm (0437 GMT), off the coast, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) northeast of the town of Sarangani, said the government seismology institute.

A $4 billion mega-casino complex is set to open in the Philippines in mid-March when the first of four franchise-holders starts commercial operations, the parent firm said in a disclosure released Wednesday.

The $1.2 billion Solaire Manila Resorts is one of four gaming operations licensed at Manila's bayside Entertainment City, a government project designed to compete with Macau, Las Vegas and Singapore as a gaming hub.

Islamist Abu Sayyaf militants have freed two Filipino television crew members seized along with a Jordanian journalist nearly eight months ago in the southern Philippines, police said Sunday.

Looking frail and gaunt, audio technician Roland "Buboy" Letriro and cameraman Ramil Vela walked free Saturday on Jolo island where they had been held since June last year, regional police chief Noel delos Reyes told Agence France Presse.

Saudi Arabia has spared one of two Filipino men sentenced to death by beheading for separate killings, Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay said Friday.

Rodelio "Dondon" Lanuza is expected to walk free after more than 12 years in prison following the Saudi government's decision to pay 2.3 million rials ($614,000) in indemnity to the victim's kin, Binay announced on television.

Suspected communist insurgents ambushed a truck carrying police and village guards in an attack which left nine people dead and wounded at least six in the central Philippines on Sunday, an official said.

The police and village guards were returning from securing a town festival in the central island of Negros before dawn when about 30 heavily-armed gunmen opened fire on them, said Chief Inspector Rico Santotome.

The Philippines took a legal step against China's claims to virtually the entire South China Sea on Tuesday, formally notifying the Asian superpower that Manila is seeking international arbitration to declare Beijing's moves in the potentially oil-rich waters "illegal and invalid."

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said at a news conference that his department summoned Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing and handed her a note notifying the Chinese government that the Philippine government is bringing both countries' conflicting claims to an international tribunal.

A Canadian involved in legal disputes with his neighbors shot dead two people Tuesday in a courtroom rampage in the central Philippines before killing himself, police said.

John Pope, 66, a former journalist, arrived with two hidden pistols at a courtroom that was hearing a case against him for "mischief,” said Senior Superintendent Mariano Natuel, police chief of Cebu city.

Philippine authorities said Tuesday they have fined the U.S. Navy for "unauthorized entry" after an American minesweeper went aground on a World Heritage-listed coral reef.

Manila announced the initial penalty amid growing anger in the Philippines over the January 17 stranding of the USS Guardian on the Tubbataha Reef, for which the U.S. Navy has apologized.

A U.S. Navy minesweeper that has been stuck on a World Heritage-listed coral reef in the Philippines since last week ignored warnings to avoid the area, a government official said Monday.

The comments from the superintendent of Tubbataha marine park, Angelique Songco, added to growing anger in the Philippines over the incident, for which the U.S. Navy has apologized but may still face fines.