Typhoon Toraji was forecast to blow over the mountainous Luzon region, where President Ferdinand Marcos Jr - just the day before - inspected the damage from the last storm and led the distribution of food packs to residents.
The fast-moving Toraji was about 100km east of Casiguran town in northeastern Aurora province on Monday with sustained winds of up to 130km/h and gusts of up to 180km/h.
It's expected to barrel northwestward across Luzon, weaken as it crosses a mountain range and then blow into the South China Sea.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla ordered the forcible evacuation of people in 2500 villages expected to be lashed by Toraji and warned the rain-soaked Luzon mountains, valleys and plains were susceptible to flash floods and landslides.
With the typhoon approaching fast, there was little time to move large numbers of people to safety, he said.
"We understand if some would want to stay, but we have to get them out," Remulla told reporters.
The last two typhoons and a tropical storm caused more than 160 deaths, damaged thousands of houses and farmlands and affected more than nine million people, including hundreds of thousands who fled to emergency shelters, after dumping from one to two months' worth of rain in just 24 hours in some cities and towns.
Overwhelmed, the Philippines received help from Southeast Asian countries led by Singapore, along with longtime treaty ally the United States, to transport food, water and other aid to hard-hit northern provinces.
The Philippine archipelago is often battered by typhoons and earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the most natural disaster-prone countries in the world.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages and caused ships to run aground and smash into houses in the central Philippines.
