(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-23 09:16

MANILA - The death toll from floods and landslides caused by heavy rains in the Philippines has risen to 26 while 10 persons remained missing, said the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) on Saturday.

The disaster-stricken areas include Southern Luzon, Bicol, Visayas and Mindanao, said NDCC.

Floods were particularly severe in the central Bicol region, where five days of incessant rains in Albay have forced more than 80,000 people to evacuate from their homes to evacuation centers.

Local government officials in Bicol said evacuees will not be able to go home in the coming days as the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has warned of more rains Saturday and Sunday.

In the province of Albay which has been declared a calamity zone, assistance goods and materials are being delivered to the disaster-stricken towns with the help of the military.

Albay Governor Joey Salceda said that the provincial government was doing everything it could to ensure minimal or zero casualty, according to a report by local television ABS-CBN News.