Manila - The Philippine military has dispatched additional troops to the country's troubled south in the wake of increasing attacks by communist rebels on businesses, a military spokesman said Tuesday.

Major Armand Rico said about 700 troops, additional armoured vehicles and tanks arrived in the southern city of Davao at the weekend to augment forces in areas where guerrillas have recently attacked businesses.

"These criminal acts have seriously threatened the livelihood of the people, as the communist terrorists attack the businesses and industries that provide jobs for our people," he said.

"We need to launch intensified operations on known locations of bandits who keep on intimidating the people and extorting their earnings," he added.

The military has recorded about 100 "atrocities" by communist rebels in the southern Philippines in the first quarter of the year, including extortion attempts, killings, arson and assaults on military targets.

The latest attack occurred on Sunday when a group of guerrillas torched a drilling machine belonging to a mining company in Davao Del Sur province allegedly due to the firm's failure to pay "revolutionary taxes."

Communist rebels have been fighting the Philippine government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia. There are an estimated 5,000 guerrilla fighters in the country now. (dpa)