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.

More than 1,000 residents, mostly small-scale miners and their families, have been evacuated, and about 72 houses have been buried in the debris.

Cloma said the accidents were triggered by three days of continuous heavy rains that saturated and loosened the soil.

In August last year, a landslide also struck the village, killing 10 people.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo expressed sympathy for the families affected by the landslide and ordered the military and police to help in the search operations. (dpa)