Manila - Five government soldiers and 11 communist rebels were killed in clashes that erupted when troops raided a guerrilla camp in the southern Philippines, an army spokesman said Monday.

One soldier and 12 guerrillas were also wounded in the fighting on Sunday in Quezon town in Bukidnon province, 855 kilometres south of Manila, according to Major Michele Anayron.

Anayron said troops swooped down on a rebel camp in the village of Santa Cruz, triggering a four-hour gunbattle that killed one soldier and five guerrillas.

Manila - Thousands of people in the western Philippines are in danger of losing their livelihoods with the trade in live reef fish bound for expensive seafood restaurants in China facing imminent collapse, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned Monday.

The international environmental group said 60 per cent of all fish taken from the reefs around Palawan province, 600 kilometres south-west of Manila, were now juveniles, a good indication that "it has been highly overfished."

Cotabato City, Philippines - Kidnappers in the southern Philippines freed a Filipino-Chinese businessman and his 10-year-old daughter after ransom was allegedly paid, officials said Monday.

Wilson Tan, 50, and his daughter Jennifer were released by their captors in Talayan town in Maguindanao province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, on Sunday evening.

They were kidnapped just outside their house in nearby Cotabato City on February 19.

Army Colonel Domingo Gubway said that based on unconfirmed reports, the family paid ransom for the release of the hostages.

"There maybe ransom money involved, but we have no idea as to the amount," he said.

Manila - A radio broadcaster was killed Monday by unidentified gunmen in a southern Philippine city, the second journalist to be killed this year, a police report said.

Ernie Rollin was on his way to work when gunmen shot him in the village of Talic in Oroquieta City, 765 kilometres south of Manila, the report said.

The victim was parking his motorcycle at the gasoline station before taking a bus ride to his work when two motorcycle-riding gunmen approached and fired at him. He died on the spot.

Rollin, in his mid-40s, was known for hard-hitting commentaries against graft and corruption in the southern region of Mindanao.

Manila  - One government soldier and two communist rebels were killed Sunday in separate incidents in the southern Philippines, the military said.

An army sergeant was killed when a military truck hit a rebel landmine in Panabo City in Davao del Norte province, 990 kilometres south of Manila.

Major General Raymundo Ferrer, a regional military commander, said three soldiers were also wounded in the blast.

He said the troops were on their way to Paquibato district in Davao City to conduct preparations for a humanitarian mission.

Manila  - Two communist rebels were killed Sunday in a clash with government troops in a southern Philippine province, an army spokesman said.

Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner said the combat occurred in a village in Talaingod town in Davao del Norte province, 990 kilometres south of Manila.

Brawner said the military suffered no casualties.

Troops recovered three rifles and the bodies of the slain rebels after the firefight, he said.