A swollen river came perilously close to submerging a bridge as Christmas floods killed at least 13 people in the Philippines.

Video shows the churning brown water almost reaching the deck of a bridge as it battered the structure and splashed fallen electric cables in Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental province, on December 26.

Heavy rain and floods have been hammering the archipelago's central and southern islands over the weekend due to the shear line or front where cold and warm air collide, state weather bureau PAGASA said.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said that at least 13 people were reported dead and six were injured, while 23 were missing as of December 27.

Of the casualties, seven were found in the coastal province of Misamis Occidental in the country's south.

The NDRRMC also reported that 45,337 people are currently staying in evacuation centres. Relief goods and cash assistance are being handed out to the flood victims, the agency added.

Tropical Philippines sees an average of 20 storms per year. The Southeast Asian nation - ranked among the most vulnerable to climate change - grapples with devastating floods and landslides annually.