President Benigno Aquino vowed Sunday to bring criminal charges against Muslim rebel leader Nur Misuari for a deadly attack on a major southern Philippine city that left hundreds dead or injured.

"Our investigators are making sure that Misuari will be made to answer for all these," Aquino told a news conference in Zamboanga city shortly before boarding a jet to return to Manila.

The Philippines urged its citizens on Saturday to send more aid for 100,000 people who had fled heavy fighting between troops and Muslim rebels in the country's south, calling their plight a "humanitarian crisis".

The conflict has claimed more than 100 lives since hundreds of rebels from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) entered the key trading center of Zamboanga in a bid to derail peace talks with a rival group.

Super Typhoon Usagi, the most powerful storm of the year, brought torrential rain and strong winds to the Philippines and Taiwan Saturday, uprooting trees and knocking out power as it barreled towards Hong Kong.

The typhoon battered the Batanes island group in the far north of the Philippines overnight with gusts of up to 250 kilometers (155 miles) per hour, affecting communication lines and damaging crops, officials said.

Philippine security forces killed eight Muslim rebels Thursday as they hunted the remnants of a guerrilla force hiding in homes of a major city and believed to be holding hostages.

A soldier also died, the military reported, bringing the death toll from 11 days of fierce street battles in the southern port city of Zamboanga to at least 114.

The Philippines and the United States launched war games Wednesday at a naval base facing turbulent waters claimed by China, as the allies sought to highlight their expanding military ties.

About 2,300 marines from both sides are taking part in the annual maneuvers which this year are being staged alongside the South China Sea and come ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's planned first visit to the Philippines next month.

Philippine soldiers pursued heavily armed Muslim rebels through the streets and homes of a major city Wednesday, warning they would be killed or captured unless they surrendered.

About 200 members of the Moro National Liberation Front sailed into the southern port city of Zamboanga on September 9 to stake an independence claim and derail peace talks aimed at ending a decades-long insurgency.

Philippine troops aboard helicopters fired rockets on Monday at Muslim rebels occupying parts of a major city, intensifying efforts to end an eight-day standoff that has left dozens dead.

The military said it was close to defeating the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) forces, who have invaded southern Zamboanga city in a bid to derail a rival rebel group's planned peace pact with the government.

Philippine troops were clearing out the last remaining Muslim rebels after a six-day operation in the south that killed dozens of militants and allowed scores of hostages to flee, officials said Saturday.

Police estimated the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) gunmen were now holding as few as seven civilian hostages in the southern port city of Zamboanga, compared to more than 100 a day earlier, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said.

The leader of Muslim rebels locked in a deadly stand-off with Philippine forces in a key southern city has agreed to discuss a ceasefire, a spokesman for Vice President Jejomar Binay said Saturday.

About 180 gunmen from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) infiltrated six coastal districts of Zamboanga city before dawn on Monday in a siege which has left at least 22 people dead and 52 wounded.

Barack Obama will pay the first visit by a U.S. president to Malaysia in a half-century on a four-nation Asia tour next month, the White House said Friday.

Obama will attend summits in Indonesia and Brunei and also visit longtime U.S. ally the Philippines during the October 6-12 trip.