Watch: Daring rescue of 18 Filipinos as boat battles huge waves amid monsoon rains

Philippine Coast Guard personnel rescued 18 passengers and crew after their motor banca encountered large waves and began taking in water near Calayan in the Babuyan Channel.

The Geri Ann was traveling toward Calayan in the Strait of Luzon when its operator sent a distress call. The Coast Guard and police immediately launched a rescue operation, said Joe Robert Arirao, a spokesperson for the Claveria Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office. Rescuers brought the passengers aboard a Coast Guard vessel and towed the damaged boat safely ashore.

The rescue came as large parts of the Philippines endured another week of monsoon rain. The national weather agency forecast more rain, including occasional showers in several provinces and scattered rains and thunderstorms in Metro Manila, the Ilocos, Cordillera and Bicol regions. It also warned that a low-pressure area could develop west of Luzon later in the week, potentially increasing rainfall and flooding.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Monday that 43 people had died from the combined effects of the southwest monsoon and recent tropical cyclones since August 1. Most of the fatalities involved drowning and landslides. The storms and enhanced monsoon included systems locally named Luis, Maymay, Neneng and Pilandok.

The Department of Agriculture said crop damage from excessive rain and flooding had reached P4.13 billion. Rice stocks stood at 2.18 million metric tons, below the agency’s stated ideal buffer of 3.7 million metric tons, equivalent to 100 days of supply.

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The monsoon will bring occasional rains over Zambales, Bataan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Cavite, Batangas, and Occidental Mindoro provinces. Metro Manila, Ilocos Region, the Cordillera Region, and the Bicol region will be cloudy with scattered rains and thunderstorms while the rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.