THE death toll from the two storms and the southwest monsoon has risen to 21, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said on Friday.
Benguet had the highest number of fatalities at 15, with 10 deaths in Baguio City, three in Atok and two in La Trinidad, all due to landslides.
Rizal recorded three deaths, including two in Rodriguez due to a rockslide and one in Antipolo caused by a fallen tree.
Batangas reported three fatalities: one in Batangas City due to drowning, one in Lipa due to electrocution and one in Santa Teresita due to a landslide.
The NDRRMC also said 17 people were injured and three others were missing.
Benguet accounted for 12 of the injured, including eight in Baguio, two in La Trinidad, and one each in Atok and Buguias. Most of the injuries were caused by landslides.
Two people were injured in La Paz, Abra, while Rodriguez, Rizal, reported one injury caused by strong currents. One person each was injured in Suyo, Ilocos Sur, due to a landslide and in Naic, Cavite, due to a vehicular accident.
The weather disturbances affected 1,205,839 families, or 4,177,097 people, across the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Bicol Region, Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Calabarzon, Cordillera Administrative Region, National Capital Region and Mimaropa.
The NDRRMC reported 1,317 houses partially damaged and 111 destroyed.
Infrastructure damage was estimated at P2.647 billion, while agricultural losses reached P347.37 million.
Malacañang on Friday ordered work in government offices and classes in all schools shifted to alternative modes in the National Capital Region and 12 other provinces due to the heavy rainfall.
Malacañang said local chief executives have the discretion to suspend work and classes entirely, with face-to-face class suspension already announced earlier.
Also on Friday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) downgraded the warning level in Metro Manila to Yellow.
Zambales and Bataan remain under Orange rainfall warning as floods continue to threaten the two provinces.
The Department of Education (DepEd) said it has launched rapid disaster response operations and outlined immediate recovery requirements following severe operational disruptions caused by the southwest monsoon, or habagat, which was enhanced by Tropical Storm Maymay.
As of Friday, continuous rains had disrupted classes in eight regions across 73 DepEd divisions, affecting 8.4 million learners and 365,308 DepEd personnel in 12,477 public schools.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the department is moving fast to minimize learning loss and restore damaged infrastructure.
“First and foremost, the safety of our students, teachers and staff is our top priority. However, while ensuring their safety, we cannot allow the education of our young people to be disrupted for too long,” Angara said.
The DepEd Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service has begun processing of the initial batch of recovery funds amounting to P19.14 million, which would cover clean up and clearing operations for 1,244 affected schools, and minor repair to restore 4,259 classrooms with minor structural damage.
Overall infrastructure damage totaled close to 3,000 classrooms, while non-infrastructure asset losses stand at 16,981 learning materials, 11,151 school chairs and 579 units of information technology equipment.
