The damage to agriculture and infrastructure brought by the combined effects of the prevailing shear line, northeast monsoon (amihan), and previous low pressure areas (LPAs) that have affected the country since Jan. 2 already reached P1.02 billion.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported on Sunday, Jan. 22, that the bad weather has dealt P751,967,912.63 worth of damage to agriculture while damage to infrastructure was pegged at P276,797,224.68.

In the agriculture sector, the most affected region was Caraga (Region 13) which had a loss of P126 million, followed by Cagayan Valley (Region 2) with P99.86 million; Western Visayas (Region 6) with P74.87 million; Northern Mindanao (Region 10) with P67.40 million; and Davao Region (Region 11) with P25.1 million.

Meanwhile, infrastructure loss was highest at P201 million in Mimaropa which covers the provinces of Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan. It was followed by Northern Mindanao with P44.63 million loss; Davao Region with P25.36 million; and Soccsksargen (Region 12) with P5.1 million.

The death toll also increased to 35 but the NDRRMC has only validated 19 of them so far.

The number of reported fatalities was highest at 12 in Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9); eight in Northern Mindanao; seven in Eastern Visayas (Region 8); six in Bicol Region (Region 5); and one each in Davao Region and Soccsksargen.

More than 1.9 million individuals were affected by the bad weather and 92,118 of them were still staying in 358 evacuation centers in 14 affected regions.

The NDRRMC said its member-agencies have already distributed P98 million worth of assistance to the affected Filipinos including family food packs, water, family and hygiene kits, sleeping kits, financial assistance, and other non-food items.

As of Saturday, the effect of shear line had already weakened but it was forecasted to bring cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms over Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas.