Stormy weather kills 53 in Philippines, 19 missing

MANILA - Disaster agencies say stormy weather since late December has killed 53 people in the Philippines and left at least 19 missing, mostly fishermen lost in rough seas.

The national disaster council reported Tuesday that raging floodwaters and landslides from off-season rains that hit the central and southern Philippines accounted for most of the deaths.

The coast guard says four fishermen are missing from a boat that capsized and broke apart Sunday in stormy waters off Palawan province southwest of Manila. Thirty-three men were rescued.

The civil disaster office in Bicol, southeast of the capital, says that an additional 13 fishermen are missing in that region. Two other men are missing in flooded villages in a southern province.