LIGHTNING
As heavy rains and strong winds battered Cotabato City and nearby towns on Sunday, a couple was reportedly killed by lightning, while more than dozen houses in open fields were destroyed

Spouses Kabasalan and Maisa Minulan were killed when lightning struck through their shanty in Barangay Nalinan in Sultan Kudarat town, reported the Philippine Star.

"They were killed instantly according to investigators in the Sultan Kudarat municipal police station," Senior Superintendent Agustin Tello, director of the Maguindanao provincial police was quoted to have said in the report.

He said Minulan, 80, and his 68-year-old wife were buried immediately by relatives in keeping with an Islamic tradition of burying the dead within 24 hours from the time of death.

Cotabato City Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi has dispatched relief workers to help the villagers whose houses were damaged.

Strong winds also uprooted trees that fell on school buildings and on roads.