Illegal Termination?

I signed a contract last Feb. 27, 2012 for a 3-month probationary period with a BPO company. According to the contract, on or before my 3rd month, my performance will be evaluated to determine if I should be regularized or not. On March 12, 2012, 2 weeks from the time I signed the contract, we were all given a heads-up about some people getting laid off as a result of business financial losses. Today, March 21st, I received an e-mail from the management that they have to terminate my contract effective March 31, 2012. My questions are:

1.) Is there anything foul with the company's action?
2.) Should there be a 1 month notification before the effectivity of the termination?
3.) Am I entitled to get something (aside from my pay) for the early termination of my contract?
4.) Is 'termination' different from being 'laid off'? The owner of the company first used the term 'lay off' when he announced the bad news through e-mail then used the words 'terminate our contract with you' on his individual e-mails to formalize everything.
4.) Should I request for a signed-hard copy of the 'contract termination letter' that was only sent via e-mail?

Thank you so much.

Regards,

imember

i have also been looking for a clear answer on this. to my mind you are still entitled to a 30 day notice period. end result is the same, you are terminated from work. email is ok.

you can file a complaint at dole or nlrc to question the termination.