Manila, Aug. 21 -- The government has so far sheltered 15,523 families or 52,543 persons affected by the combined effects of Luis, Maymay, and Neneng and the ongoing southwest monsoon ('habagat'), the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said on Friday.

They are staying inside 701 evacuation centers that were activated in light of bad weather.

Mariano also said assistance so far extended to affected communities totalled around PHP1 billion.

The evacuees are among the 6,620,335 individuals affected by inclement weather in the past few weeks.

These persons are equivalent to 1,905,622 families residing in Regions 1 (Ilocos Region), 2 (Cagayan Valley), 3 (Central Luzon), Calabarzon (Region 4A), Mimaropa (Region 4B), 5 (Bicol Region), 6 (Western ...