A STRONG typhoon was set to wallop the Philippines on Christmas Day, officials warned yesterday, as millions of people criss-cross the mostly Catholic nation to celebrate one of the most important dates on the religious calendar.
Nock-Ten was expected to be packing winds of up to 194 km an hour and gusts of nearly 241 km an hour when it hit the eastern tip of the archipelago's main island of Luzon tomorrow, the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center said.
"Our people are being made aware that we could get hit on Christmas Day," Romina Marasigan, spokeswoman for National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said.
