THE death toll of Tropical Storm Paeng (international name: Nalgae) has crawled up to 150, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said on Thursday, November 3, 2022.

In a situation report, the NDRRMC said out of the 150 reported deaths due to Paeng, 94 have already been confirmed.

The province of Maguindanao had the highest number of reported fatalities with 63 followed by Calabarzon with 33 and Western Visayas with 29.

A community in Maguindanao was washed out due to a landslide amid the continuous rains brought about by Paeng.

The disaster bureau said 36 more individuals were missing following the onslaught of Paeng, which affected nearly four million individuals of over one million families in 8,712 villages in the country.

It said a total of 15,162 houses were damaged due to the weather system. The estimated cost of damage to houses was at P17.286 million.

The estimated worth of assistance provided to the affected population was at P136.8 million.

The NDRRMC said the production loss or cost of damage in the agriculture sector was estimated at nearly P2.5 billion, particularly in Central Visayas, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Zamboanga, Northern Mindanao, Bangsamoro and Cordillera regions.

This is on top of the P1.475 million worth of damages to the facilities of the National Irrigation Administration.

The damage to infrastructure in the affected regions, on the other hand, has further risen to over P2.8 billion from the reported P900 million estimated damage on Wednesday, November 2.

On Wednesday, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has placed the entire regions of Calabarzon, Bicol, Western Visayas and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao under a state of calamity following the onslaught of Paeng. (SunStar Philippines)