The Arroyo government on Saturday placed 26 areas in Luzon, including Metro Manila, under a state of calamity due to floods caused by tropical storm Ondoy.
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said the provinces placed under a state of calamity were Aurora, Quirino, Nueva Viscaya, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, Quezon, Isabela, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Benguet, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Cavite, Batangas, Mindoro Occidental, Mindoro Oriental, Marinduque, Camarines Norte, Bataan and Metro Manila.
At least nine people were reported dead or missing in massive floods as a tropical storm lashed the eastern side of the country on Saturday, radio reports said.
A wall, weakened by floodwaters, collapsed in a suburb of Manila, killing a father and child while four children drowned in a flood with three others were swept away by a swollen river outside the capital, radio station DZMM said.
The storm, bearing winds of 85 kilometres (53 miles) per hour with gusts of 100 kph, hit the main island of Luzon near the town of Infanta at about 0200 GMT Sunday, moving west at 19 kph, the weather station said.
Flooding was reported in many districts and on roads reported with waters in some areas reaching as high as the rooftops of one-storey buildings, the civil defence office said.
As many as 700 people were forced to flee their homes and take refuge in evacuation centres due to rising waters, the office said. However, local officials interviewed on radio said they were moving to evacuate more of their residents.