MANILA, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from Super Typhoon Man-yi that hit the Philippines over the weekend has risen to nine, the Philippines' Department of National Defense said Wednesday.

Office of Civil Defense Administrator Ariel Nepomuceno said the number of deaths could have been higher if not for the government's imposition of forced evacuation of villagers in disaster-prone areas before Man-yi struck.

Nepomuceno noted that Catanduanes, an island province in Bicol region, southeast of Manila, was particularly hit hard by Man-yi, with around 4,000 houses damaged, 500 of which were completely destroyed.

"Super Typhoon Man-yi was at its height when it lashed the villages in Catanduanes," he said.

Man-yi was the 16th tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines this year. Before Man-yi, five successive cyclones slammed into the Philippines between October and early November.

The back-to-back cyclones dumped heavy rainfall, triggering flooding and landslides, wreaking havoc across Luzon and other parts of the archipelago.

Nepomuceno said damages to agriculture from recent typhoons have exceeded 7 billion pesos (about 119 million U.S. dollars). In terms of infrastructure, 10.4 billion pesos (about 176 million dollars) in damages has been reported. Enditem

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