Manila - More than 100 Muslim secessionist rebels were killed in clashes with Philippine troops last year, a military spokesman said Tuesday.

Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres said 101 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas have been confirmed killed in 2008 and the number could increase as the military continue to verify casualty figures.

"There may be more but of course it is still subject to validation," he said.

Torres, however, conceded that while the MILF forces have been somewhat degraded in the strife-torn southern region of Mindanao, the guerrilla group remains a force to be reckoned with in the area.

Manila - Somali pirates have released a Japanese-operated cargo ship with 21 Filipino crewmen aboard, a Philippine foreign official said Tuesday.

Manila  - Six suspects in the kidnapping of a Pakistani businessman and his Filipino friend were arrested in the northern Philippines, a police spokesman said Monday.

The suspects were apprehended late Sunday shortly after releasing the victims in a remote highway in Hermosa town in Bataan province, 75 kilometres north of Manila, according to Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome.

Bartolome said the suspects were positively identified by relatives of the victims who paid 400,000 pesos (8,421 dollars) for their safe release.

Manila  - A family of six were killed when a landslide buried their house in an eastern Philippine province, a government relief agency said Monday.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said two people were also injured in the landslide Saturday in Lavesares town in Northern Samar province, 495 kilometres south-east of Manila.

The accident was triggered by heavy rains in the area for several days, which loosened the soil and also caused flashfloods in several villages.

The NDCC said more than 10,000 people were adversely affected by the flooding and landslides.

Heavy rains have also hit several eastern and southern provinces, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes

Manila  - A domestic passenger plane crashed into a barrier in an airport runway in the central Philippines on Sunday, injuring three people, officials said.

The Zest Airways plane "undershot" the runway of the Caticlan airport in Aklan province, 330 kilometres south of Manila, as it was landing, said Ben Ciron, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority.

He said two children and one crew member suffered minor injuries in the accident.

Manila - Hundreds of thousands of barefoot devotees joined an annual procession in the Philippine capital on Friday to honour a centuries-old statue of a suffering Jesus Christ.

Security was tight at Quiapo district in downtown Manila, with hundreds of police officers deployed since Thursday night when devotees of the Black Nazarene began to gather for a vigil.

Traffic had been re-routed away from the Quiapo Church, but surrounding streets were still jammed due to the huge crowd.