Christmas is effectively on hold in the Philippines, as rescuers continue to look for survivors of a storm which has killed about 200 people and 37 are believed dead from a large fire in a mall in the city of Davao.

Rescuers are searching for survivors of the storm which has also left thousands homeless, most of whom apparently ignored warnings to move to safety.

The country is hit often hit with up to 20 typhoons a year and warnings are routinely issued, but the level of destruction wreaked by tropical storm Tembin on the southern island of Mindanao came as a surprise.

Authorities say the toll is likely to rise as they begin to reach remote farm communities and coastal areas, and restore communication and power links.

Misery in the largely Christian Philippines was compounded by the death of at least 37 people in a shopping mall fire on Saturday.

Officials believe there is no chance of survival for 36 others trapped in the building.

The mall's marketing manager says the fire started Saturday morning at the third floor where clothes, appliances and furniture are sold.

President Rodrigo Duterte and Roman Catholic Church officials visited the site to meet relatives of the trapped office employees and asked them to pray.