Filipino flight attendants treat passengers to safety dance

Flight attendants for a Philippine airline have treated passengers to some festive cheer with a dancing safety demonstration complete with Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You in the background. 

Manila-based Cebu Pacific airline gained fame by dancing through their safety routine to the backing of Lady Gaga, but this time have updated it for the holiday period.

The airline says the choreographed dance helps passengers pay more attention to the demonstration, which instructs passengers of how to use their seat belts and life jackets.

Candice Iyog, an airline spokesman, said: "Now that it's Christmas, we wanted to bring a little more fun into the flight."

She added that passenger reaction had been good.

Video of the routine shows four attendants in orange shirts and khaki shorts dancing away on select flights. It has since become popular on YouTube, being watched more than 30,000 times.

They airline made headlines back in October when performances featuring Lady Gaga and Katy Perry went viral on YouTube.
Cebu Pacific Airlines is the largest airline in the Philippines and is renowned for its low cost fares and gimmicks that include in-flight games and giveaways.

Australia issues travel warning for Philippines after Aussie Warren Rodwell kidnapped

Australian Warren Rodwell is missing in the the Philippines with fears he was abducted by Muslim militants. 

THE AUSTRALIAN Government has issued a travel warning for parts of the Philippines as the search for a Sydney man who was kidnapped at gunpoint from a seaside town continued yesterday. 

Warren Rodwell was snatched from his home late Monday in the town of Ipil on the main island of Mindanao and authorities appear to be no closer to tracking down his armed captors.

Local police said the 53-year-old was shot in the foot during the abduction as he wrestled with up to six gunmen.

Police recovered an empty bullet casing and found blood outside the property, the Mindanao Examiner reported.

"Rodwell was shot in the foot while trying to fight off the kidnappers, who are members of a local gang, but with links to the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan province," Army Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang said without further elaborating.


The Abu Sayyaf terror group was founded in 1990 with al Qaeda funding and has been blamed for the Philippines' worst terrorist attacks, including a ferry bombing that killed more than 100 people in 2004, as well as the beheading of foreigners. It is part of a Muslim separatist rebellion which has been raging for 40 years.

Cabangbang said security forces have launched a massive search for Mr Rodwell, who was born in Sydney but has spent the past decade teaching English across Asia.

He was living in Ipil, in the southern Philippines, where he and Filipino wife, Miraflor Gutang, 27, also known as Grace, ran a store. She reportedly walked out on him after an argument only days before he was kidnapped, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, citing information from police.

Ipil acting Mayor Alberto Alcoriza told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that Mr Rodwell had been warned about the dangers of the region and offered security protection -- but told authorities he could protect himself.

"He told us then that he'd fight back in case he encountered security problems," Mr Alcoriza said.

Mr Rodwell is the 10th foreigner to be kidnapped in the southern Philippines this year.

The Australian Government has established a consular task force to deal with the kidnapping, while in an increased travel warning, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Transport urged people not to travel to central and western Mindanao, and reconsider plans to visit eastern Mindanao, because of the threat of terror attacks and kidnapping.

It said, "If you are in central and western Mindanao, you should consider leaving. If, despite our advice, you decide to visit central or western Mindanao, you should put in place robust measures to ensure your personal security."