DAVAO CITY: Three people died due to drowning from a flood that submerged a large swath of farmland in southern Philippines, officials said on Friday.

Rescuers are also looking for an 11-year-old boy who was swept away by flood in Davao Oriental province, according to Liza Mazo, chief of the Office of Civil Defense in Davao Region.

Mazo said that over 12,000 people were displaced due to the flooding and 500 of them are already in evacuation centers. Hardest-hit is the rice-producing Davao del Norte province. The Liboganon River, which traverses the province overflowed, inundating five towns in the province.

Sonio Sanchez, Provincial Disaster officer, said that the flooding destroyed infrastructure, properties and P18-million worth of rice and other crops.

Torrential rains have been lashing the region since last week due to the presence of an inter-tropical convergence zone over Mindanao’s southeastern seaboard.