<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>At least 20 people have died after days of torrential rains in parts of the southern Philippines, provincial disaster agencies said today.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Thirteen people died in Davao de Oro province while two were missing, and seven people were killed in neighbouring Davao del Norte, disaster agency officials said.</div><div><br></div><div>A northeast monsoon and trough of a low-pressure area brought rains in the southern Mindanao region from Jan 28 to Feb 2, resulting in deadly floods and landslides, data from the national disaster agency show.</div><div><br></div><div>More than 812,000 persons were affected, of which around 85,000 people took shelter in evacuation centres, it added.</div><div><br></div><div>In mid-January, 18 people died due to floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains in the southern Philippines.</div><div><br></div><div>Landslides and floods are frequent in the Southeast Asian nation, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands that is hit by about 20 tropical storms annually. - Reuters&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>