Manila (People’s Daily) - Super typhoon Mangkhut left the Philippines on Saturday night, but the scourge left by it remains to be removed by Filipinos.

Filipino rescuers carry a body of a person inside a body bag at the site where people were believed to have been buried by a landslide on September 18, 2018 in in Itogon, Benguet province, Philippines. (Photo: VCG)

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said the death toll as of midday Monday was 65, though it’s expected to rise, with 43 people missing and 64 injured. Most of the victims were killed by landslides and floods. Most of the 43 were gold miners and their families fear they were buried in a landslide after seeking shelter in a bunkhouse-turned-chapel in a village of Itogon town in Benguet province, which was the worst-hit by the typhoon.

Mayor Victorio Palangdan of Itogon said that 11 bodies have been recovered and it was likely that those who had not yet been recovered are dead. “I am 99% sure the people there are dead.” he said. The death toll may rise to 100 or even more.

The Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said nearly 220,000 residents were still being served inside and outside evacuation centers provided by local governments Monday morning. The government also declared a total of seven provinces and cities under a state of calamity due to the typhoon.

Mangkhut also caused enormous economic damage. It is estimated that Philippine lost more than 250,000 metric tons of rice because of the attack of the strongest typhoon so far this year in the country, which is 60% more than the worst situation the government previously expected.

Reuters reported that the Department of Agriculture initially estimated crop damage at about 9.6 billion pesos ($177 million), but said that may increase as more field reports come in. Emmanuel Pinol, Philippine agriculture secretary, said, "The final crop loss may reach 11 to 12 billion pesos. This is not a good figure."

The Philippines is one of the world's largest rice importers, and has already been pressured to increase rice stocks before Mangkhut. Based on the possible increase in orders, Vietnam, the main supplier of Philippine rice, announced last week that it would raise its rice export prices.

People wait to identify the bodies of their missing relatives recovered at a landslide, after super typhoon Mangkhut hit the country, at a mining camp in Itogon, Benguet, Philippines September 17, 2018. (Photo: VCG)

The Philippines is learning from the disaster and taking action.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has ordered the suspension of all mining operations in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) after landslides trapped and killed mine workers in Itogon.

“The mining industry has not contributed anything substantial to the national economy...I admit we earn P70 billion a year... In the end, how much do you lose in the process?” The President Rodrigo said at a post-disaster meeting in Benguet yesterday. Congress has to repeal the Philippine Mining Act to put an end to mining, which has caused environmental destruction and triggered deadly landslides, Duterte said.

To make up for the crop loss, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) will release 7,000 sacks of suspected smuggled rice to those affected by Typhoon Ompong. In a statement, BOC Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said they would course their donation through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) that would distribute the rice to the typhoon victims.