MANILA, Philippines?Typhoon Santi (international codename: Mirinae) pummeled Metro Manila and southern Luzon provinces Friday night and early Saturday, unleashing powerful winds that toppled trees and electric posts and dumping heavy rains that triggered flash floods and landslides in some areas.

At least 11 persons were reported killed while seven others were missing when the typhoon pounded the Bicol and Calabarzon regions before swiftly passing through the metropolis.

As of 5 p.m., the National Disaster Coordinating Council had yet to officially receive confirmation about the deaths caused by the typhoon.

But reports gathered by the Inquirer from local military, police and disaster officials revealed that typhoon-related deaths had reached 11 and could rise as some places had not been heard from yet.

In Laguna, provincial police chief Senior Supt. Manolito Labador said Margie Taino, 8, and Julieta Zaguire, 79, drowned in flash floods in Pagsanjan town while Edcel Lovina, 12, drowned in Nagcarlan.

In the Bicol region, Raffy Alejandro of the Office of Civil Defense in Region 5 said seven persons died in Camarines Norte and Catanduanes.

The Army?s 2nd Infantry Division also reported that one of its rescue teams recovered the body of a man who drowned while crossing a swollen creek in Pililia Rizal. The man?s child was among the missing.

Missing persons include one in Muntinlupa City, one in Rizal, three in Pila, Laguna, and two in Batangas City.

According to the NDCC, close to 116,000 persons were forced to flee their flooded homes.

NDCC spokesperson Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres said 23,101 families displaced by the floods were already taken to 251 evacuation centers as of 12 noon Saturday.

Torres said Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro went to Sta. Cruz, Laguna, to personally check on the conditions of affected residents and the damage wrought by the typhoon on public infrastructure.

?The NDCC and the Armed Forces already sent disaster relief teams to affected areas. We also distributed relief goods in some areas two days [earlier],? Torres told the Inquirer.

According to Torres, 8,567 passengers of commercial ships were stranded while more than 130 vessels were forced to temporarily seek refuge in various ports in the Calabarzon and Bicol regions.

He said strong winds toppled electric posts, causing power outages in Camarines Norte, Laguna and Metro Manila.