Manila  - Communist rebels in the Philippines said Friday they expect more people to join the decades-old insurgency movement as they suffer "terrible" hardships brought about by the global financial crisis.

In a message marking the 40th anniversary of the foundation of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), founding chairman Jose Maria Sison said the rebel group already had "tens of thousands" of members but more were needed for "gigantic tasks ahead."

"Tens of thousands of cadres and hundreds of thousands of members are needed for a new great leap in the advance of the Philippine revolution," he said in his message.

Sison said the global economic slowdown would provide an opportunity for the CPP and its armed wing, the New People's Army, to recruit more fighters and members.

"The crisis conditions inflict terrible suffering on the people, but also incite them to wage revolutionary struggle," he said. "They are therefore favourable for the rapid growth and advance of the CPP and other organized revolutionary forces of the Filipino people."

Sison blamed "the bankruptcy of the US-instigated policies of neoliberal globalization and war on terror" for the "unprecedentedly rapid worsening of the crisis of the world capitalist system and the Philippine ruling system."

The communist rebel movement in the Philippines is one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia. Peace talks between the guerrillas and the Philippine government have been suspended since 2004, and efforts to resume them have so far been unsuccessful. (dpa)