Davao City, Philippines - The death toll in two landslides in a mining village in the southern Philippines rose to 14 as rescuers on Monday found more bodies beneath the mud and debris.

At least 16 people were still missing in Masara village in Maco town in Compostela Valley province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, the regional civil defence office said.

Antonio Cloma, operations chief of the regional civil defence office, said rescuers were racing against time in digging through the rubble in hopes of finding survivors.

"We are expecting to find more people buried in the mud, and we have to get them out immediately," he said.

Cloma said four bodies were recovered from the mud and debris Monday morning.

Manila - The chief of the Philippines' Armed Forces warned Monday that Muslim rebels might resort to terrorism amid an intensified military offensive against them in the southern region of Mindanao.

The military launched the offensive against two factions of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) after the rebels attacked several towns in Mindanao last month, killing nearly 200 people and displacing more than 500,000 residents.

Manila - Six people were killed and seven others missing when a landslide struck a mining village in the southern Philippines, local officials said Sunday.

At least 13 homes were buried in the landslide in Masara village in Maco town, Compostella Valley province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, on Saturday.

Provincial social worker Josephine Frasco said three days of continuous heavy rains triggered the landslide.

Tagum City, Philippines - Communist rebels freed on Saturday two police officers and a man who posed as a police informant they held captive for four days in the southern Philippines.

The three captives were released unharmed to Congressman Manuel Zamora in Monkayo town in Compostela Valley province, 945 kilometres south of Manila.

The guerrillas seized the three on Tuesday in a roadblock in the gold-rush area of Mount Diwalwal in Monkayo.

Roel Agustin, a rebel spokesman, said the three were released on humanitarian grounds.

Cotabato City, Philippines - A senior Red Cross official urged on Saturday government troops and Muslim guerrillas to spare civilians in the escalating hostilities in the southern Philippines.

Dominik Stillhart, International Committee of the Red Cross deputy director for operations, met Saturday with some of the more than 500,000 civilians displaced in the fighting between soldiers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the southern region of Mindanao.

Manila - The United Nations on Friday vowed to send more aid to more than 500,000 people displaced by fighting between Muslim separatist rebels and government troops in the southern Philippines.

Amid reports that some aid deliveries were being blocked, the UN office in Manila assured humanitarian assistance in conflict areas in the southern region of Mindanao were unhampered.

The UN said it has so far not encountered any difficulties or challenges in delivering food to distribution centres.