Three children were killed and six fishermen were missing after typhoon Mawar brought heavy rains and rough waters to parts of the Philippines, the civil defence office said Monday.

Two siblings were carried off by an overflowing river in the western island of Palawan while a seven-year-old boy drowned in a river east of Manila, the office's deputy director, Florentino Sison, said.

A search is continuing for six fishermen on three separate boats who went missing after setting off before the storm hit, he added.

Thirty-two fishermen were rescued in rough waters off the eastern island of Catanduanes on Saturday after their boat ran out of fuel during the storm.

Mawar became a typhoon early on Sunday with maximum winds of 120 kilometres (75 miles) an hour as it passed near the eastern side of the Philippines.

Although Mawar did not hit the country directly it brought heavy rains, particularly over eastern parts of the archipelago, raising fears of flashfloods and landslides.

As the typhoon moved away from the Philippines, the government weather station warned of "gale force winds" in the northern and central coasts of the country.

Mawar was 660 kilometres northeast of Manila just before dawn Monday, moving northeast at 15 kph.