By Brian Campued
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) on Thursday announced the removal of seven tropical cyclone names used in 2025 from its list due to their extreme damage to people and property.
In a press release, PAGASA said it is delisting Crising, Emong, Mirasol, Nando, Opong, Tino, and Uwan from its regular roster.
A local tropical cyclone name is decommissioned or removed from the list if it directly caused at least 300 deaths or P1 billion in damage to agriculture, infrastructure, and other assets, as per data from the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).
“Due to the exceptional magnitude and extent of the devastation they caused, these seven tropical cyclones in 2025 have met the criteria for decommissioning,” PAGASA said.
Citing data from the OCD, PAGASA noted that the weather disturbances resulted in a total of 373 fatalities, 680 injuries, 132 missing persons, and a combined cost of damage amounting to over P36 billion.
Tino (international name: Kalmaegi) devastated Visayas and Mindanao in November 2025, affecting over 5.4 million individuals and resulting in 253 deaths, 502 injuries, and 119 missing individuals—becoming the deadliest tropical cyclone to hit the country last year.
Based on the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s (NDRRMC) situational report dated Nov. 26, 2025, the estimated cost of damage to infrastructure and agriculture due to Tino was more than P770 million and P562 million, respectively.
Another notable tropical cyclone last year was Uwan (Fung-Wong), which reached the super typhoon category as it battered Luzon shortly after Tino, leaving over 7.9 million persons affected and resulting in over P2.6 billion and P2.1 billion in damages to infrastructure and agriculture, respectively.
The seven decommissioned names from the 2025 season will be replaced by Chico, Elias, Magyawan, Nilad, Omar, Tala, and Urbano starting in 2029, since PAGASA utilizes four sets of tropical cyclone names that are used alternately or every four years.
For 2026, the list of tropical cyclones are: Ada, Basyang, Caloy, Domeng, Ester, Francisco, Gardo, Henry, Inday, Josie, Kiyapo, Luis, Maymay, Neneng, Obet, Pilandok, Queenie, Rosal, Samuel, Tomas, Umberto, Venus, Waldo, Yayang, and Zeny.
The names Ada, Francisco, Kiyapo, and Pilandok replaced Agaton (Megi), Florita (Ma-On), Karding (Noru), and Paeng (Nalgae)—tropical cyclones that lashed the country in 2022 and were subsequently decommissioned by PAGASA.
-jpv
