MANILA—President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said Siargao residents who lived near the coastline should not be permitted to put up houses there after typhoon Odette.

Duterte said residing near Siargao's coast was dangerous and should be prohibited. His statement came nearly a month after Odette battered the island with powerful winds and heavy rains.

"Delikado talaga 'yung . . . Coastal diyan sa Siargao. Dapat hindi na payagan 'yan," he said in a taped public briefing, adding the local government has final say on the matter.

Hundreds of people died while over 1,000 people were injured during Odette's onslaught in the country last December.

The strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines last year, it displaced over 561,000 people in regions in the Visayas and Mindanao. Siargao was one of the most severely hit areas.

• NDRRMC: 19 more dead from Typhoon Odette, total at 397

According to the state disaster response agency's data, some 341,000 houses were damaged while 167,000 others were destroyed, with an estimated cost of P28 million.

Damage to infrastructure was estimated at P16.7 billion while losses to crops, livestock, poultry and agricultural equipment was pegged at P5.3 billion.

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