The highest temperature in the country for this year was recorded last Saturday in Tuguegarao City at 37 degrees

Celsius, the same day that Metro Manila tallied its hottest day since last year at 35.8 degrees Celsius.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) earlier expected that temperatures all over the country will reach as high as 37 degrees Celsius in April or May, due to the prevailing El Niño phenomenon.

But Tuguegarao City in Cagayan Valley documented its 37 degrees Celsius temperature in the early part of March.

Metro Manila recorded a slightly lower temperature at 3 p.m. Sunday at 34.9 degrees Celsius.

Baguio, the summer capital of the Philippines, also tallied its highest recorded temperature this year at 27.1 degrees Celsius last Friday. Its temperature last Saturday was slightly lower at 26 degrees Celsius.

Based on the PAGASA data, the hottest temperature in Philippine history is at 42.2 degrees Celsius, recorded in Tuguegarao, Cagayan on May 11, 1969. Meanwhile, the hottest weather in Metro Manila was at 38.5 recorded on May 14, 1987.