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Erik De Castro / Reuters
Typhoon survivors sit at the entrance of a tent Sunday with the coffin of a relative who was killed by a falling tree during Typhoon Bopha, in Montevista town, Compostela Valley, southern Philippines.
DAVAO CITY, Philippines -- The Philippine government and Maoist rebels have declared truces in two southern provinces devastated by a typhoon last week as the army concentrates on relief and many rebels recover from the disaster, a commander said Monday.
Typhoon Bopha killed 647 people and caused crop damage worth $210 million.
The most intense storm to hit the Philippines this year wiped out about 90 percent of three coastal towns in Davao Oriental province and buried an entire town in neighboring Compostela Valley province under mud.
Communist New People's Army guerrillas are active in those two worst-hit provinces, which are on Mindanao island.
Mission shift
Maj. Gen. Ariel Bernardo, an army division commander, said he had ordered troops to shift from combat to relief operations, and to help deliver food and rebuild communities.
PhotoBlog: Aerial photos reveal damage from Typhoon Bopha
"We heard the rebels had declared an informal cease-fire, we welcome that because we can all concentrate on helping typhoon victims," Bernardo told Reuters.
"I believe many of these rebels were also affected and could be in the shelter areas," he added.
The death toll stood at 647 on Monday, with nearly 800 missing and more than 1,000 injured, the national disaster agency said in its latest tally. About 100 fishermen were feared lost between Mindanao and Indonesia's Sulawesi island.
Typhoon heads back toward Philippines after killing nearly 600
The Philippines' social welfare department and the United Nations are appealing for help as humanitarian agencies bring in food, water, medicines and shelter material for more than 5.4 million people affected by the storm.
Typhoon Bopha is weakening but the damage in the Philippines is mounting. The death toll has reached 420 and hundreds remain missing. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
Insurgency
New People's Army guerrillas have been battling government forces in various parts of the Philippines for decades.
The government signed a peace deal with the country's biggest Muslim rebel group, which also operates in the south, in October.
Bernardo said troops had cleared roads of debris and mud and restored links to cut-off communities to allow in food and other supplies.
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Television pictures showed entire coastal areas in Davao Oriental leveled to the ground.
About 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year, often causing death and destruction. Almost exactly a year ago, typhoon Washi killed nearly 1,500 people in Mindanao, but most storms make landfall further north.
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Leave a Comment:
I guess if the typhoon managed to get them to stop fighting when nothing else could, perhaps some good may have come from it after all. It is a shame that so many have died at this point, including that whole town. War is already hell on earth. Throw in mother nature doing her worst and it must be just awful for the people involved. At least at this point the two sides are working together. Perhaps they will be able to continue trying to find a peaceful solution to their differences, when the clean up is finished.
Maybe this was an opening the Gov should use to crush the rebels.
Missed opportunity.
Oh well, a few more decades of fighting is OK.
WAIT A MINUTE... MSN reported not 2 months ago that these same rebels from South Mindanao (the same area) ALL signed a peace treaty and laid down their arms back at that time, that they were tired of trying to create their own state after 40 years of killing innocent people and fighting a losing war. I remember because my wife's family is from Mindanao. Where was the article that stated the that article was false?
Yes .. Take a break to get the government handouts and after right back to murders and kidnappings .
So...you do both have a common enemy after all dont you? And its not getting better as time goes on, make peace between yourselves, because Nature is a cold hard bitch when she wants to be...lets see how fast another storm hits or a earthquake..you have more important things to worry about than fighting each other.
This nation gets hit with 20 typhoons a year, and apparently the season is longer than our hurricane season, which typically ends in October.
Tough environment.
Don't bet on it windancer, I spent 19 years in & out of the Phillippines just like the rest of the world if they aren't fighting they are not happy. Its like a sport with them. Its always going to be that way even when they sat down and tried to work it out. There is always someone who will open their mouths to start something again. My money is on the typhoon season as unpredictable as ours are, bet on them they will come. They sure to keep us on our toes in that time slot the rebels on the other hand, there could one next door to you and you wouldn't even know it.
annfl,
Click on Windancersongs "reply" button just as I did yours when directly addressing his/her comments. If you don't, your post will be lost in the sauce after 200 more people comment putting you way down there or on page 2 or 3 and will not make any sense to them.