The storm, which is expected to make landfall on Sunday evening, was upgraded to super typhoon with sustained winds around 185 km/h (115mph) and gusts of 230km/h (143mph).
The country’s meteorological service has warned there is a “high-risk of life-threatening and damaging storm surge with peak heights exceeding 3m [10ft]” as the storm moves in a north-westerly across towards Luzon – the Philippine’s most populous island.
Fung-wong – known locally as Uwan – comes days after an earlier storm, Kalmaegi, left a trail of destruction and nearly 200 people dead.
The eastern Bicol region was the first part of the Philippines to be directly hit by the storm on Sunday morning, before making its way past the Polillo Islands on Sunday afternoon.
Several schools have either cancelled classes on Monday or moved them online, while nearly 300 flights have been cancelled.
Fung-wong is expected to weaken after making landfall somewhere between the districts of Baler and Casiguran, but it is likely to remain a typhoon as it travels over Luzon.
Over 200mm of rain is forecast for parts of Luzon, even 100-200mm in the Metro Manilla area. This is expected to cause severe flooding and landslides.
Eastern parts of the Philippines have already begun experiencing heavy rains and winds, a weather official said on Saturday evening.
While much of the country is expected to be affected, there are particular concerns about those areas that could take a direct hit, including Catanduanes, an island in the east of the Bicol region, where extreme conditions were reported on Sunday morning.
Residents there, as well as in other low-lying and coastal areas, had been urged to move to higher ground by Sunday morning.
In the Aurora region, in eastern Luzon, BBC News spoke to Hagunoy, 21, who works at one of the dozen hotels which line the coast in Sabang.
He said police had repeatedly visited in recent days to ensure all guests were evacuated ahead of the storm. The hotels were all deserted on Sunday morning.
While the tide had risen sharply, Hagunoy said he would stay as long as he could to guard the property, before riding his motorbike home to safety.
Staff had secured the gates and tied windows shut with rope to try to stop the glass from shattering in the wind.
