re: Ann: Company Insight - New MD Norregaard ... From Lonely...

re: Ann: Company Insight - New MD Norregaard ... From Lonely Planet:

Weather patterns in the Philippines are dictated by the prevailing winds – the habagat (southwest monsoon), which runs from May to October, and the amihan (northeast monsoon), which prevails from November to early May.
For most of the country, the dry season is during the amihan. The wet season starts in June, peaks in July to September, and peters out in October. But patterns have been screwy of late, with the rains arriving later and lingering into December.

In some regions the seasons are flipped. Much of the eastern seaboard – including Eastern Mindanao, Southern Leyte, Eastern Samar and Southeast Luzon – is rainy from December to March and fairly dry when the rest of the country is sopping.

The central Visayas – including Bohol, Negros and Cebu – are sheltered from the monsoon rains and thus have less pronounced seasons. These areas are liable to have rain at any time of the year, but it’s usually not too serious unless there’s a typhoon stirring up trouble on the eastern seaboard.

Typhoons, known as bagyo, are common from June to November. Striking mainly in Luzon and the Visayas, they do millions of dollars worth of damage annually. Typhoons also tend to enhance the habagat, resulting in several days of heavy rains across vast swaths of the country. Even typhoons that pass several hundred kilometres offshore can have this unfortunate, potentially vacation-ruining effect.