MANILA, Philippines — Most parts of the country would likely experience partly cloudy to overcast skies with either isolated or scattered rain showers caused by the southwest monsoon or "habagat," the state weather bureau said on Wednesday.However, no storm has been monitored to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) at least until over the weekend, weather specialist Aldczar Aurelio of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

In particular, the southwest monsoon is bringing cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms over Palawan and Mindanao, the Pagasa forecaster said.The same weather system - warm moist winds from the southwest that cause rains especially over the western portion of the country from May to September – is also affecting Metro Manila and other Luzon provinces, namely, Cavite, Laguna and Batangas, the state-run weather agency said.Habagat also brings partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated downpours or thunderstorms over Western Visayas, Zambales, Bataan and the rest of Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon anARLIEd Palawan), it added.Meanwhile, the same weather condition may also prevail over the rest of the country within the next 24 hours due to the localized thunderstorms, Pagasa said in its 5 a.m. advisory.