543 Stranded at Philippine Ports as Habagat and Typhoon Dolphin Hit

August 9, 2026. Philippine ports were shut before the sun came up. The Coast Guard counted 543 people stranded at 28 ports across Western Visayas, Bicol, Southern Tagalog and Central Visayas. Another 179 rolling cargoes and 16 vessels were tied up at the docks alongside them.

The southwest monsoon, locally called habagat, had been building. Typhoon Dolphin tracked north of Luzon without coming ashore, but its outer circulation fed the monsoon and pushed it harder. Rough seas closed stretches of water that Philippine ferries cross daily.

The Philippine Ports Authority flagged canceled trips across several regions: Mimaropa, Bicol, Panay Island, Bohol, Guimaras, Oriental Mindoro and Occidental Mindoro. Dozens of departures were called off through the morning.

By 8 a.m. the Coast Guard put out a second count: 215 passengers still stranded across the same Coast Guard districts. The numbers shifted as some docks cleared while others filled.

Heavy rain from the monsoon flooded parts of metropolitan Manila and much of northern Luzon. Typhoon Dolphin did not make landfall.