MANILA, May 9 -- The El Nino dry spell and drought damage to Philippine agriculture has reached 5.9 billion pesos (103 million U.S. dollars), Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos said Thursday.

Marcos added that at least 3.6 million Filipinos across the country have been affected by the El Nino phenomenon.

While the Philippines copes with the sweltering weather, the Southeast Asian country also braces for La Nina's arrival.

"We are in the midst of extreme weather; extreme heat now and heavy rain in the coming months," Marcos said during his visit to Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines.

Marcos flew to the region to distribute aid to the farmers and fisherfolks who have been severely affected by El Nino.

El Nino occurs when seawater is warmer than usual, while La Nina is a large-scale cooling of sea surface temperatures in the central and equatorial Pacific Ocean.

  - Xinhua