MANILA, Philippines -- The series of killer storms that hit the country recently has kept government troops busy, thus hampering the Armed Forces' anti-insurgency operations, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. said on Sunday.

But military officials remain optimistic of crushing the communist insurgency by 2010 as ordered by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Teodoro has admitted that the military's internal security operations, especially in Luzon, have been temporarily put on "active defense mode" because of the need for soldiers to do rescue and relief work.

"Our anti-insurgency campaign, admittedly, was slowed down [but] we have to sacrifice one for the other... what is important is we are serving communities [badly hit by the typhoons]," he told reporters.

Three consecutive storms buffeted the country last month, eroding mountains, burying entire villages in mud and leaving several towns submerged in flood.

The three storms--Ondoy, Pepeng, Santi-- killed more than 800 people across Luzon and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless.

Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Victor Ibrado confirmed on Sunday, that since typhoon "Pepeng" hit northern Luzon last month, operations against communist insurgents in the area have virtually stopped.

As to the extent of the effects of the tropical storms on the military's track to crush insurgency, Ibrado said he could not say yet.

"But definitely our operations [have been] affected because our troops who should operate are the ones who continuously respond to the needs of calamity victims," he pointed out.

"We are not saying that we can totally wipe out the insurgency but we are optimistic that we will be able to significantly reduce the problem by next year," he added.

Mrs. Arroyo had given the military until 2010, the end of her presidential term, to defeat the decades-old communist insurgency in the country.

Teodoro, who has been chosen as the administration party's presidential standard-bearer in the 2010 elections, also pointed out that for the past 45 days, major government agencies have been trying to find solutions and giving relief to calamity victims.

"I hope this would prove to our countrymen that the government is working for them, that there's only one way but to support the government and that this may discourage others from bringing down the government," he said.