Relatives of the victims rally outside a court in Quezon

The lawsuit also said about 100 more victims were still buried under the rubbish.

Rescuers have so far recovered 218 bodies from the dump which partially collapsed on 10 July, burying shanty homes under an avalanche of rubbish.

The shacks belonged to families who made a living scavenging for scraps on the massive tip, ironically known as the Promised Land.

Children

Lawyer Romeo Capulong said the suit was for compensatory and moral damages.

About 200 slumdwellers demonstrated outside the court in Quezon City, near the dump, as the suit was filed.

They included children who had lost their parents in the disaster.

Some protesters carried placards demanding death for those responsible.

Soldiers are meanwhile continuing to dig through the refuse searching for the bodies of those missing.

Rescue officials do not know how many people are still buried under the rubbish, as there was no official count of how many were living on the tip when it collapsed.

President Joseph Estrada declared the Payatas dump permanently shut after the tragedy.