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.

Cotabato City, Philippines - Muslim separatist rebels attacked a southern Philippine village, torching at least 30 homes of Christian families, an army spokesman said Thursday.

No one was hurt in the raid on Sanga village in Kalamansig town in Sultan Kudarat province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, on Wednesday, said Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando.

Ando said about 150 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels occupied the farming village, forcing some 500 families to flee their homes.

On Wednesday, government security forces launched air and ground assaults on the rebels, who torched the homes in a bid to slow down the troops.

"We are using OV-10 and MG-520 aircraft to drive them away," Ando said.

Cotabato City, Philippines - Philippine troops on Wednesday recovered a homemade bomb planted by suspected Muslim separatist rebels under a bridge in a southern village, an army spokesman said.

Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando said the bomb was found under the bridge in Labu-Labu village in Shariff Aguak town, Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

The bomb, made from a an 81-millimetre mortar shell, was safely defused two hours after it was recovered, Ando said.

He said Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels were suspected to be behind the bombing attempt following airstrikes on guerrilla positions on Tuesday.

"We believe it is part of the rebels' diversionary tactic because they suffered as many as 10 fatalities in our airstrikes," he said.

Manila - Four gunmen were killed in a pre-dawn shootout with police officers in the Philippine capital Manila, a police official said.

The men refused to stop their vehicle at a police checkpoint in the Manila suburban city of Quezon, triggering a chase, said Chief Superintendent Orlando Mabutas.

When the suspects' vehicle hit a wall, the gunmen alighted and shot it out with police officers, Mabutas said.

Three of the suspects died on the spot, while the fourth gunman was declared dead on arrival in hospital.