The death toll has risen to 167 people, while 110 are still missing after typhoon Agaton hit Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, and parts of Mindanao.
According to National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Executive Director Ricardo Jalad, most of the victims were from Eastern Visayas with 151 people, most of them in the landslide that engulfed a barangay in Baybay City, Leyte; 11 in Western Visayas; three in Davao Region and two in Central Visayas.
About 110 people are still wanted, while eight are injured. Among the missing are 104 in Eastern Visayas, 5 in Western Visayas, and one in Davao Region.
Typhoon Agaton struck on Holy Monday, although heavy rains were already felt before that.
The NDRRMC reported that 562,548 families, or a total of 1.9M people, were affected by the typhoon. Of the said number, 209,162 continue to be sheltered in 959 evacuation centers.
According to the initial report of the NDRRMC, the damage to agriculture was P242,239,927.31, although according to the records of the Department of Agriculture, it now amounts to P703.3-M.
Sixty-nine bridges and roads were impassable, while 76 cities and municipalities lost power.
16 cities and municipalities including the towns of Sara and Lemery in Iloilo have been placed under a state of calamity; Trento, Agusan del Sur; Cateel, Davao Oriental and the entire province of Davao de Oro.
Duterte visits TD Agaton victims
President Rodrigo Duterte admitted that he cried over the fate of a child who was a victim of typhoon Agaton in Leyte.
Duterte personally visited the typhoon victims, where many died in the landslide.
According to Duterte, among those he visited was the child in the hospital who was alone because his parents and siblings had died.
He said Duterte could not imagine what happened to the child, so he cried.
“I visited the hospital and I saw this child who was all alone. His dad, mom and siblings are all dead. It made me cry and wonder why it had to happen to you. It makes me want to cry. But that is just how life is,” Duterte said in Bisaya.
Senator Bong Go was with him when Duterte visited the Western Leyte Provincial Hospital in Baybay City on Good Friday.
Duterte also visited the Pontevedra Elementary School Evacuation Cente in Poblacion Tacas, Pontevedra, Capiz yesterday.
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