The bus plunged about 24 metres in the upland province of Nueva Ecija after its brakes failed while travelling on a windy road, police and local officials said.
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Many of the passengers had serious injuries and were taken to a hospital, he said.
"The vehicle is totally wrecked," said Senior Inspector Robert De Guzman, police chief of the town of Carranglan where the accident occurred.
"Almost all of the passengers, both dead and injured, were found outside the bus," he said, adding that the impact appeared to have ripped the top off the vehicle, he added.
Abad added that the wounded, some of whom sustained critical injuries, were rushed to nearby hospitals.
"The road is really risky. There are many ravines along that road going to Abra," he said, referring to the northern province where the bus was headed.
Dr Arlene Jara, chief of the nearby provincial hospital treating the wounded, said children were among those injured.
Road accidents are common in the Philippines, where old, badly maintained buses often drive on poorly lit roads.
In February, the brakes failed on a sightseeing bus carrying college students on a camping trip on a steep downhill road in Rizal province east of Manila; the bus smashed into a concrete electrical post leaving 15 people dead.
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