MANILA, Philippines - Pope John Paul II has offered prayers for more than 1 million Filipinos hit by a weeklong monsoon rainstorm that swamped most of the northern Philippines, triggering deadly landslides and floods, church officials said Monday.
More than 60 people had been killed, with 45 injured and one still missing in the flooding and landslides before torrential rains eased in many areas Monday, disaster relief officials said.
Philippine church officials released a letter from the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, conveying the pope's message of support.
"The Holy Father is close to you in prayer, commending the victims to Almighty God and invoking divine strength and comfort upon their grieving families and all affected by this tragedy," the papal message said.
The pope appealed for solidarity amid the difficulties in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo rode on a navy amphibious truck Monday to deliver medicine, used clothing and canned goods to flood victims in a fishing village in Bataan, a flood-prone province northwest of Manila.
About 1.4 million people in 16 provinces and 26 cities, including metropolitan Manila, have been affected by the flooding. More than 22,000 people remained in evacuation centers in Manila and northern provinces Monday, said Melchor Rosales, executive director of the National Disaster Coordination Center.
Damage so far to crops, cattle, fisheries and public infrastructure has been estimated at nearly 400 million pesos (dlrs 8 million), Rosales said.
The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 typhoons a year in addition to monsoon rainstorms that are strongest from July to August.