TUGUEGARAO CITY: Rescuers using backhoes and chainsaws began digging the Philippines out from the devastation of Typhoon Fung-wong on Tuesday, as floodwaters receded in hundreds of villages and the storm’s death toll climbed to 18.
Fung-wong, which displaced 1.4 million people, had weakened into a severe tropical storm even as it began dumping rain on neighboring Taiwan ahead of an expected Wednesday landfall.
It was the second major typhoon to hit the Philippines in days, after Typhoon Kalmaegi last week rampaged through the archipelago’s central islands on its way to killing 232 people, according to the latest figures.
In coastal Isabela province, a town of 6,000 remained cut off from help on Tuesday, a civil defense spokesman said, with parts of neighboring Nueva Vizcaya province similarly isolated.
“We are struggling to access these areas,” said Cagayan Valley region spokesman Alvin Ayson, who added that landslides had prevented rescuers from reaching affected residents.
Others were “now in evacuation centers, but when they get back to their homes, their rebuilding will take time and face challenges.”
He added that a 10-year-old boy in Nueva Vizcaya had been killed by one of the landslides.
The child was among 18 deaths recorded in a new death toll released Tuesday by national civil defense deputy administrator Rafaelito Alejandro.
In a phone interview, Alejandro said that even “early recovery” efforts would take weeks.
“The greatest challenge for us right now is the restoration of lifelines, road clearing, and restoration of power and communication lines, but we are working on it.”
In hardest-hit Catanduanes island, issues with the water supply could take up to 20 days to fix, he said.
Schools and offices were closed on Tuesday in multiple counties in Taiwan as the approaching storm intensified the northeast monsoon, triggering heavy rain.
Up to 400 millimeters (nearly 16 inches) of rain is expected over the next 24 hours, government and weather officials there said.
President Lai Ching-te urged people to avoid mountainous areas, beaches and “other dangerous locations” to “get through this period safely.”
‘Strongest typhoon’
In Cagayan, part of the Philippines’ largest river basin, provincial rescue chief Rueli Rapsing said on Monday that a flash flood in neighboring Apayao province had caused the Chico River to burst its banks, sending nearby residents scrambling for higher ground.
“We received reports ... that some people were already on their roofs,” he said, adding most had been rescued.
Mark Lamer, 24, a resident of Cagayan’s Tuao town, said it was the “strongest typhoon I have ever experienced.”
“We didn’t think the water would reach us. It had never risen this high previously,” he said.
More than 5,000 people were safely evacuated before the overflowing Cagayan River buried the small city of Tuguegarao about 30 kilometers away.
“Tuguegarao is underwater now,” Rapsing said.
Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful due to human-driven climate change. Warmer oceans allow typhoons to strengthen rapidly and a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, which means heavier rainfall.
Fung-wong’s death toll rose Monday after five-year-old twins and an elderly man in two northern Luzon provinces were reported killed in landslides.
The two children were killed at around 2:00 am as their family slept inside their home, according to Ayson, the regional spokesman. Seasonal monsoon rains had saturated the soil around the dwelling before Fung-wong struck, he said.
The storm’s first fatality came a day earlier further south in Samar province, while another was confirmed on Catanduanes island, where storm surges Sunday morning sent waves hurtling over streets and floodwaters into homes.
Typhoon Kalmaegi last week sent floods rushing through the towns and cities of the central Philippines, sweeping away cars, riverside shanties and shipping containers.
President Ferdinand Marcos said Monday that a “state of national calamity” declared over Kalmaegi would be extended to a full year.
![]()
Philippines digs out from Typhoon Fung-wong as death toll climbs to 18
Short Url
https://arab.news/vcxxg
Philippines digs out from Typhoon Fung-wong as death toll climbs to 18
- Fung-wong, which displaced 1.4 million people, had weakened into a severe tropical storm
- It was the second major typhoon to hit the Philippines in days, after Typhoon Kalmaegi last week
Japan seizes Chinese fishing vessel, arrests captain
TOKYO: Japan seized a Chinese fishing boat and arrested its skipper, authorities said Friday, an incident that could deepen a spat between the Asian giants.
The episode on Thursday off southern Japan came three months after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested that Japan would intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take Taiwan by force.
China swiftly reacted to the seizure, the Japanese fisheries’ agency first since 2022 of a Chinese fishing boat, by urging Japan to protect the rights of Chinese crew.
“It is hoped Japan strictly respects the China-Japan fisheries agreement, fairly enforces the law and safeguards the safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese crew members,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news conference on Friday.
Japan’s fisheries agency said the vessel’s captain was ordered to stop for an inspection, but the boat “failed to comply and fled.”
“Consequently, the vessel’s captain was arrested on the same day,” the agency said in a statement.
The boat was inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone 89.4 nautical miles (166 kilometers) south-southwest of Meshima island in the Goto archipelago, Japan’s statement said — not a disputed area.
The captain was named as Chinese national Zheng Nianli, 47. The status of the other 10 people on board the vessel, named the Qiong Dong Yu, was unclear.
“To prevent illegal fishing operations by foreign vessels, we will continue to take firm action and engage in enforcement activities,” chief government spokesman Minoru Kihara said.
China has a number of territorial tussles with Japan, and there have been repeated incidents around the Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu in China.
The 2010 arrest of another Chinese fishing boat captain off those islands in the East China Sea became a major diplomatic incident.
- Taiwan spat -
Japan and China have close economic ties but Takaichi’s comments about Taiwan have sent relations spiralling downwards again.
China has long insisted that Taiwan, occupied for decades by Japan until 1945, is its territory and has not ruled out force to achieve “reunification.”
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te told AFP in an interview this week that other countries — including Japan — would be China’s next targets should Beijing seize the democratic island.
“The next countries under threat would be Japan, the Philippines, and others in the Indo-Pacific region, with repercussions eventually reaching the Americas and Europe,” Lai said.
After Takaichi’s comments, Beijing summoned Tokyo’s ambassador, warned Chinese citizens against visiting Japan and conducted joint air drills with Russia.
In December, J-15 jets from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier twice locked radar on Japanese aircraft in international waters near Okinawa, according to Japan.
China also tightened controls on exports to Japan for items with potential military uses, fueling worries that Beijing may choke supplies of vital rare-earth minerals.
Japan’s last two pandas were even returned to China last month.
- Hawkish leader -
Takaichi, 64, was seen as a China hawk before becoming Japan’s first woman prime minister in October.
She won a landslide victory in snap elections on Sunday, putting her in a strong position for the next four years to stamp her mark on Japanese domestic and foreign policy.
Takaichi said Monday that under her leadership Japan — which hosts some 60,000 US military personnel — would bolster its defenses and “steadfastly protect” its territory.
She also said that she was “open to various dialogues with China.”
But China’s foreign ministry said “genuine dialogue should be built on respect for one another.”
“Proclaiming dialogue with one’s mouth while engaging in confrontation — no one will accept this kind of dialogue,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Tuesday.
“If Japan truly wants to develop a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship with China, it’s very easy and clear: withdraw Takaichi’s erroneous remarks about Taiwan,” he said.
The episode on Thursday off southern Japan came three months after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested that Japan would intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take Taiwan by force.
China swiftly reacted to the seizure, the Japanese fisheries’ agency first since 2022 of a Chinese fishing boat, by urging Japan to protect the rights of Chinese crew.
“It is hoped Japan strictly respects the China-Japan fisheries agreement, fairly enforces the law and safeguards the safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese crew members,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news conference on Friday.
Japan’s fisheries agency said the vessel’s captain was ordered to stop for an inspection, but the boat “failed to comply and fled.”
“Consequently, the vessel’s captain was arrested on the same day,” the agency said in a statement.
The boat was inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone 89.4 nautical miles (166 kilometers) south-southwest of Meshima island in the Goto archipelago, Japan’s statement said — not a disputed area.
The captain was named as Chinese national Zheng Nianli, 47. The status of the other 10 people on board the vessel, named the Qiong Dong Yu, was unclear.
“To prevent illegal fishing operations by foreign vessels, we will continue to take firm action and engage in enforcement activities,” chief government spokesman Minoru Kihara said.
China has a number of territorial tussles with Japan, and there have been repeated incidents around the Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu in China.
The 2010 arrest of another Chinese fishing boat captain off those islands in the East China Sea became a major diplomatic incident.
- Taiwan spat -
Japan and China have close economic ties but Takaichi’s comments about Taiwan have sent relations spiralling downwards again.
China has long insisted that Taiwan, occupied for decades by Japan until 1945, is its territory and has not ruled out force to achieve “reunification.”
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te told AFP in an interview this week that other countries — including Japan — would be China’s next targets should Beijing seize the democratic island.
“The next countries under threat would be Japan, the Philippines, and others in the Indo-Pacific region, with repercussions eventually reaching the Americas and Europe,” Lai said.
After Takaichi’s comments, Beijing summoned Tokyo’s ambassador, warned Chinese citizens against visiting Japan and conducted joint air drills with Russia.
In December, J-15 jets from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier twice locked radar on Japanese aircraft in international waters near Okinawa, according to Japan.
China also tightened controls on exports to Japan for items with potential military uses, fueling worries that Beijing may choke supplies of vital rare-earth minerals.
Japan’s last two pandas were even returned to China last month.
- Hawkish leader -
Takaichi, 64, was seen as a China hawk before becoming Japan’s first woman prime minister in October.
She won a landslide victory in snap elections on Sunday, putting her in a strong position for the next four years to stamp her mark on Japanese domestic and foreign policy.
Takaichi said Monday that under her leadership Japan — which hosts some 60,000 US military personnel — would bolster its defenses and “steadfastly protect” its territory.
She also said that she was “open to various dialogues with China.”
But China’s foreign ministry said “genuine dialogue should be built on respect for one another.”
“Proclaiming dialogue with one’s mouth while engaging in confrontation — no one will accept this kind of dialogue,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Tuesday.
“If Japan truly wants to develop a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship with China, it’s very easy and clear: withdraw Takaichi’s erroneous remarks about Taiwan,” he said.
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.