OFFICIAL figures released by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Saturday put the latest death toll from Typhoon Yolanda (international codename: Haiyan) at 3,633.
Death toll in the hard hit Eastern Visayas region has risen to 3,432.
The NDRRMC said that 1,179 remain missing while 12,487 were reported injured from last week's killer typhoon.
Del Rosario reiterated that the official list of casualties will still come from the NDRRMC. The United Nations earlier said that the death toll has already reached to over 4,000.
"NDRRMC is the only [government] agency [that is] authorized to give official death count," he said, as he expressed optimism that figures won't reach initial estimate of around 10,000.
"I just hope hinde na tumaas [death toll]," del Rosario said.
Meanwhile, the total cost of damage due to the typhoon has risen to P9,460,240,222.13, according to the agency's 8 a.m. update.
NDRRMC Executive Director Undersecretary Eduardo del Rosario put the total damage to infrastructure at P371,058,761.13 while agriculture damage reached P 9,089,181,461.00.
The Department of Agriculture said that 155,366 hectares of agricultural lands have been damage with P 2.4-biliion worth of rice crops had been destroyed while P 1.1-billion worth of damage was reported in the fishing industry and P2.2-billion in the livestock and cattle industry.
More than nine million individuals or 1.96-million families in 44 provinces have been affected after the devastation brought the super typhoon while more than 287,199 houses reportedly destroyed by Yolanda’s wrath.
Power outages are still being experienced in parts of Regions Mimaropa, Bicol Region, Western Visayas, and Central Visayas while total power blackout is reported in the Eastern Visayas.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said telecommunication firm Smart Communications restored about 84-percent of its service in the typhoon-hit areas while Globe Telecoms has restored around 56-percent its cellular phone signal.
Also, the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) received non-food items aid shipment from the Spanish Red Cross (SRC) and German Red Cross (GRC) to augment the ongoing relief response operations in the Eastern Visayas.
A total of 500 family tents, 500 kitchen kits, 1000 hygiene kits, 1,000 tarpaulins and 500 shelter tool kits from were given by the GRC while 6,000 jerry cans from SRC were immediately airlifted in Cebu City.
The received donations were temporarily stored at PRC warehouse in Cebu City and will be eventually brought to different devastated areas in Leyte and Samar provinces. (Sunnex)