Manila - The Philippine military on Monday rejected warnings by Muslim separatist rebels that hostilities would escalate in the country's troubled south without international peacekeepers monitoring a five-year ceasefire.

Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres, a spokesman for the Philippine Armed Forces, said the military was committed to supporting the peace talks between the government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

"We remain hopeful that violence would not erupt and a lasting peace is still attainable with the able and sincere representation of the government and the MILF in the peace negotiation," he said.

Late last week, the MILF warned that a 2003 ceasefire would collapse if government and rebel negotiators fail to meet soon to extend the mandate of an international team monitoring the truce in Mindanao.

The mandate of the International Monitoring Team - which is composed of troops from Malaysia, Libya, Brunei, Canada and Japan - is to expire on August 31. Malaysia already withdrew more than half of its contingent last month.

The team, which has been in Mindanao since 2004, has greatly decreased violence between the Philippine military and the MILF, which is the largest Muslim rebel group fighting for a separate Islamic state in the Philippines.

While Torres remained confident that violence would not erupt in Mindanao, he said soldiers were on alert for any untoward incidents in the conflict-wracked region, where al-Qaeda-linked militants also operate.

"As expected of soldiers, we always maintain a high state of readiness, capable of responding to any hostile eventualities in order to preserve a secure environment," he said.

Formal peace talks between the MILF and the government have been suspended since December over disagreements on the key issue of ancestral domain, or what areas to include in a proposed Muslim homeland in Mindanao. (dpa)