Typhoon “Inday” has officially exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on Saturday morning, July 11, but the nation remains under siege as the storm continues to enhance habagat or southwest monsoon, bringing relentless rains that have claimed at least 17 lives and displaced thousands.

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said it was verifying reports of 17 deaths and nine missing persons from rain-induced landslides as habagat, enhanced by Inday, continued to batter large parts of the country even as it exited PAR at 8:20 a.m.

OCD Deputy Administrator Asst. Sec. Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said the weather system continues to pose a serious threat because the enhanced habagat is expected to bring heavy rains until Monday, July 13.

"The latest situation after Super Typhoon Inday is that it did not make a direct landfall in the country. However, it enhanced the southwest monsoon. From today until maybe Monday, we will continue to experience heavy rains from Aklan in the Visayas up to Calabarzon (Region 4A), Mimaropa (Region 4B),  Zambales, Bataan, Ilocos (Region 1), La Union, and Pangasinan,” he said.

The OCD recorded 112,000 affected families from 404 barangays across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Of the total, about 2,900 families were staying in 77 evacuation centers while more than 7,000 families were temporarily sheltered outside evacuation sites.

Alejandro said authorities were validating reports that 17 people died, all believed to have been killed by landslides.

"We have received reports that are still being verified. We have 17 reported fatalities. Two are from Bukidnon, 10 from Sarangani, and five in Lanao del Sur that we are still verifying," he said.

"All of these, especially those in Sarangani and Lanao del Sur, were caused by landslides," he added.

"We are also looking at nine missing persons. Six are in Lanao del Sur and three are in Sarangani. These are still being verified because there is a process. These are raw data, and sadly, this is what we have received. These are mainly due to landslides,” he continued.

Despite Inday leaving PAR, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) warned that the enhanced southwest monsoon will continue to bring heavy rainfall and strong to gale-force winds across most parts of the country.

PAGASA said Inday was moving north northwestward over the East China Sea and is expected to make landfall over eastern China later Saturday or early Sunday. It maintained that the typhoon's circulation would continue to enhance the southwest monsoon even as the cyclone moves farther away from the Philippines.

The OCD has so far recorded 153 damaged houses, mostly in Mindanao and the Visayas. Several roads in Sarangani also became impassable due to landslides, making access difficult to some communities that were previously affected by a strong earthquake.

Power interruptions were also reported in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Calabarzon, Western Visayas, and the Negros Island Region.

Alejandro said one of the biggest effects of the weather disturbance was the suspension of trips at several ports, leaving passengers and cargoes stranded.

The Philippine Coast Guard reported that 61 ports were affected between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. Saturday.

A total of 1,000 passengers, truck drivers, and cargo helpers were stranded along with 256 rolling cargoes, six vessels, and three motorbancas. Another 170 vessels and 152 motorbancas took shelter due to rough seas.

The OCD said government resources, particularly of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), remain sufficient to support affected communities.

“In fact, the DSWD has P16.4 million worth of food and non-food items. It also has 4.7 million family food packs ready, as well as 370,000 ready-to-eat food packs that can be distributed to local government units needing assistance,” he added.

He also said all response assets of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, and Philippine Coast Guard remain on standby.

“Our AFP, PNP, BFP, and PCG resources are all on standby and ready to help. The regional disaster risk reduction and management operations centers managed by the OCD are under heightened or blue alert from Region 1 up to Mindanao. The OCD Central Office remains on red alert as we continue monitoring and providing assistance,” Alejandro said.

He added that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had already directed all government agencies early this week to prepare for the effects of the weather disturbance.