At least 39 persons died while 17 were reported missing due to Severe Tropical Storm ''Maring'', the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) said Saturday.

Damage to agriculture was estimated at two billion pesos while for infrastructure it reached P952 million, added NDRRMC.

Twenty-one cities and municipalities declared a state of calamity in their areas, NDRRMC said.

At the ''Laging Handa'' virtual forum, Assistant Agriculture Secretary Kristine Evangelista said 42,000 farmers and fishermen were affected by ''Maring.''

"As our quick response, we have rice and corn seeds worth 168,000 pesos that will be distributed to the affected farmers, to help them... get the seeds they need to plant again," he said.

"(The assistance) also includes our people whose farm animals were also affected. We have medicine for their farm animals," he added

Damaged houses in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Western Visayas, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Caraga and Cordillera Administrative Region amounted to 7, 339, of which 317 were destroyed.

A total of 155,156 families or 611,705 individuals were affected by the tropical cyclone, NDDRMC said.

Among the affected population, 4,318 families or 15,130 individuals were being served inside 91 evacuation centers. Robina Asido/DMS