MANILA, THE PHILIPPINES - Communist insurgents in the northern Philippines have declared a week-long ceasefire in areas that were devastated by tropical storm Parma, the rebels said in a statement seen here Friday.

The ceasefire is "to assist in relief, retrieval, and rehabilitation efforts for the victims of the recent disasters," said the statement posted on their website Philippinerevolution.net.

The ceasfire, which began on Thursday, applies to northern areas of Luzon that suffered major landslides and floods as Parma pounded the region with rain for a week from October 3, killing at least 419 people.

This follows reports that the insurgents had declared a similar unilateral ceasefire in areas affected by tropical storm Ketsana, which hit further south on Luzon on September 26, causing huge floods and killing at least 354 people.

The Philippine military earlier said it was suspending offensive operations against the communists in disaster-hit areas to focus their attention on relief and rescue efforts.

Just three days before Parma struck, the insurgents set fire to road-building equipment in the north after a construction company refused to pay their extortion demands, police said then.

The New People's Army and its political leadership, the Communist Party of the Philippines, have been waging a 40-year campaign to seize power.

The military estimates there are currently about 3,000 communist soldiers.

Peace talks with the communists have been suspended since 2005, when the government refused to ask the European Union and the United States to remove the party and the armed wing from their foreign terrorist watchlists.

The military said last month that the communist insurgency had claimed more than 3,000 lives over the past eight years.