MANILA, March 11 (Reuters) - Work to recover more than one million litres of oil from a tanker that sank last August in the central Philippines will begin this week, an official with the Italian salvage operation said.

Mark Phibbs of Sonsub International said on Sunday the operation would take up to a month to complete.

The Solar 1, chartered by Petron <PCOR.PS>, sank in rough seas on Aug. 11 and is believed to have leaked around 500,000 litres of bunker oil, affecting more than 40,000 people and more than 200 km (125 miles) of coastline in the central Philippines.

The bulk of the 2 million litre cargo of oil remains trapped in the tanker, lying at a depth of about 640 metres (2,100 feet) off Guimaras island.

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