More than 400 people were killed and hundreds of thousands left homeless after Rai hit the archipelago as a super typhoon in December 2021, ripping off roofs, shredding wooden houses and wiping out crops.

The UN initially sought $107.2 million for 530,000 people in the hardest-hit areas in central and southern regions of the country flattened by the typhoon.

But UN Resident Coordinator in the Philippines Gustavo Gonzalez said more than 70 field assessments showed "humanitarian needs remain very high".

The new target of $169 million would assist the 840,000 "most vulnerable people" in dire need of shelter, food, drinking water and sanitation facilities, Gonzalez said.

About 30 percent of the revised amount had been received, Gonzalez told AFP. Humanitarian groups have been working with the government to distribute aid. But the challenges were "enormous", said Gonzalez.

"Affected regions bore massive damage to infrastructure, agricultural land and the fishing sector, with local economies and livelihoods hit hard," he said.

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