(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/121012-phili-bopha-130a.photoblog600.jpg)Erik De Castro / ReutersTyphoon survivors sit at the entrance of a tent Sunday with the coffin of a relative who was killed by a falling tree during Typhoon Bopha, in Montevista town, Compostela Valley, southern Philippines.By ReutersDAVAO CITY, Philippines -- The Philippine government and Maoist rebels have declared truces in two southern provinces devastated by a typhoon last week as the army concentrates on relief and many rebels recover from the disaster, a commander said Monday.
Typhoon Bopha killed 647 people and caused crop damage worth $210 million.
Follow @NBCNewsWorld (https://twitter.com/NBCNewsWorld) The most intense storm to hit the Philippines this year wiped out about 90 percent of three coastal towns in Davao Oriental province and buried an entire town in neighboring Compostela Valley province under mud.
Communist New People's Army guerrillas are active in those two worst-hit provinces, which are on Mindanao island.
Mission shift
Maj. Gen. Ariel Bernardo, an army division commander, said he had ordered troops to shift from combat to relief operations, and to help deliver food and rebuild communities.
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