House leaders have given P2 million in financial help and food packs to people in Misamis Occidental who were severely impacted by flash floods caused by heavy rainfall over the Christmas weekend.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez, along with his wife, Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez and Rep. Jude Acidre, both of the Tingog Partylist, were among the first to send aid following the nonstop downpour caused by a shear line, with over 1,000 family food packs, 17,650 bottled waters, and P2 million in financial assistance.

Misamis Occidental, and the city of Gingoog in Misamis Oriental, was placed under a state of calamity on Monday following heavy floods which started on Christmas Eve.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jason Almonte of Misamis Occidental commended House leaders for the quick response and for delivering aid to the ravaged region.

Officials said on Wednesday that the death toll caused by a shear line in Northern Mindanao reached 25 as of Wednesday, with further rain forecast for the hardest-hit southern and central districts.

Authorities were still looking for more individuals who had gone missing after heavy rains caused flooding and landslides in the central and southern areas.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development in the Caraga Region likewise extended supplementary assistance to flood-affected households in the Region 10 province of Misamis Oriental.

Landslide death

Meanwhile, one person died and three others were missing in southern Philippines after being hit by a landslide, police said Thursday, taking the nationwide death toll from recent rains to at least 33.

Authorities were still searching for more than two dozen other people missing after heavy downpours over the Christmas weekend caused flooding and landslides across central and southern regions.

The latest death happened Wednesday in Mati City in the province of Davao Oriental on Mindanao island when a landslide buried four people as they fished, police said.

With AFP