A series of landslides and floods killed at least five people and displaced thousands in the eastern and southern Philippines, the Office of Civil Defence said Monday. Continuous heavy rains have plagued eastern and southern provinces since the last week of December due to a cold front, according to the weather bureau. Two children were killed in a landslide in St Bernard town in Southern Leyte province, 675 kilometres south-east of Manila. A landslide also closed a highway in Tacloban City in nearby Leyteprovince, while floods struck the provinces of Eastern Samar, Western Samar and Northern Samar, the Office of Civil Defence said. In Albay province, three people drowned in floods that displaced nearly 60,000 people. Landslides also forced more than 5,000 persons to flee their homes in 18 villages. Floods were also reported in the southern provinces of Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Agusan del Sur, where nearly 900 people were forced to flee their homes, according to a report of the German Press Agency "DPA".
