MANILA - Four people were killed and some P222 million in crops and infrastructure were damaged due to heavy rains and strong winds brought by Typhoon Bising, the state disaster response agency said Friday.

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council spokesperson Mark Timbal said 2 people died in Eastern Visayas, 1 in Central Visayas and 1 from Davao Region. Thirteen others were also reported injured, many of them from Davao Region.

"Although dumaplis lang talaga 'yong bagyo dito sa Pilipinas, nagkaroon pa rin ng effects dahil sa tindi ng ulan at lakas ng hangin," he told Teleradyo.

(Although the typhoon only grazed the country, it brought damage because of heavy rains and strong winds.)

Cost of damage to agriculture such as rice, corn and high-value crops was estimated at P211.6 million, Timbal added. Damage to infrastructure in Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas also reached P10.5 million.

In its latest bulletin, the NDRMMC said the typhoon also destroyed 86 houses and damaged 944 others in its wake.

Power outage was reported in 63 cities and municipalities of Bicol Region, Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas.

Nearly 170,000 people were also evacuated from their homes due to threat of storm surges, floods and landslides.

State weather agency PAGASA said Friday Bising was last spotted 575 kilometers east-northeast of Basco, Batanes, packing maximum winds of 140 kph winds and gusts of up to 170 kph.

Moving east at a speed of 20 kph, the typhoon is expected to leave the Philippine area of responsibility on Sunday, April 25, weather specialist Shelly Ignacio said in a press briefing.

Bising is the second tropical cyclone to enter the country this year.

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