MANILA, Philippines - Rains triggered landslides and Cagayan residents were evacuated yesterday as typhoon “Pedring” (international name Nesat) intensified and approached Northern Luzon.
In Metro Manila, heavy rains and flooding forced the suspension of afternoon classes and cancellation of 34 domestic flights.
As of 5 p.m. yesterday, storm signal no. 3 was raised over Catanduanes, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Northern Quezon including Polillo Island, Aurora, Quirino and Isabela.
Signal no. 2 was up in Metro Manila, Albay, Burias Island, Sorsogon, the rest of Quezon, Rizal, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Ifugao, Benguet, Mountain Province, Kalinga and Cagayan.
Signal no. 1, meanwhile, was hoisted over Ticao Island, Masbate, Marinduque, Batangas, Cavite, Bataan, Pampanga, Zambales, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Abra, Apayao and Calayan and Babuyan Group of Islands.
Robert Sawi, weather branch chief of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said the possibility of raising signal no. 3 in Metro Manila is “slim” based on their latest forecast.
PAGASA administrator Nathaniel Servando said Pedring is expected to make landfall over Isabela-Aurora area early this morning.
Under signal 3, winds may reach speeds from 101 kilometers per hour to 185 kph, Servando said.
He said winds of such strength could cause severe damage to agricultural crops, topple trees, and damage structures made of light materials such as nipa huts.
Servando said travel by land or sea is also risky.
As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the center of Pedring was spotted at 260 km east southeast of Casiguran, Aurora with maximum sustained winds of 130 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 160 kph.
It was forecast to move west northwest at 19 kph.
Pedring is predicted to be in the vicinity of Baguio City this afternoon after making landfall over Casiguran.
By tomorrow afternoon, it will be 410 km west northwest of Sinait, Ilocos Sur and 820 km west northwest of Sinait by Thursday afternoon.
Pedring is expected to bring 15 to 25 millimeters of rainfall within the 650 km diameter of the typhoon.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) warned surfers in Baler, Aurora to exercise caution.
PCG spokesman Lieutenant Commander Algier Ricafrente said that as of 11 a.m. yesterday a total of 935 passengers were stranded in 12 different seaports in the Bicol and Southern Luzon regions.
Tabaco Port in Albay had the most number of stranded passengers with 270, followed by the Port of Lucena with 170, Pio Duran Port in Albay with 158, and the Pilar Port in Sorsogon with 150.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that six fishermen from Camarines Sur who went fishing the other day are missing.
NDRRMC and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) chief Benito Ramos identified the six fishermen as Leopoldo Nidea, 37, Doikyam Degula, 35; Oliver Degula, 28; Francis Basqouinia, 23; Danilo de los Santos, 29; and Domingo Harold, 16, all of Barangay Caranan, Pasacao, Camarines Sur.
The Department of Transportation and Communications, meantime, ordered all attached agencies regulating land and sea travel, particularly the PCG and the Land Transportation Franchise Regulatory Board to make sure that ships and provincial buses plying the roll-on, roll-off routes do not take to sea.
Alerts raised
More than 100,000 people in Albay province were ordered to move to safer areas, according to the NDRRMC.
The regional OCD said continuous heavy rains since Sunday afternoon have triggered landslides, caused suspension of classes and power interruption in some areas of the province.
Raffy Alejandro, OCD regional director, said the Viga portion of the national highway was closed to traffic after a landslide occurred in Barangay Sumit.
Another landslide was also reported in Barangay Laganac in Balatan town in Camarines Sur.
In Ilagan, Isabela, Gov. Faustino Dy III has ordered the preemptive evacuation of people in low-lying areas near Cagayan River and its tributaries as of noon yesterday.
The Army’s 5th Division based in Barangay Upi in the town of Gamu has already raised the red alert status in Camp Melchor de la Cruz while the Philippine Air Force has already put two of its air assets on call in response to anticipated search and rescue sorties.
Cagayan Valley’s RDRRMC declared an alert status as Magat Dam continues to release water in anticipation of bigger volume of rain water to fill up its sprawling reservoir along the Isabela-Ifugao border.
It has also alerted its disaster personnel in the region’s four mainland provinces –Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya and Cagayan –which are now readying preemptive evacuation measures for residents living along riversides and foothills to prevent unnecessary loss of lives.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has prepositioned some P4.4 million in standby funds and P57.96 million worth of relief goods for local government units, which could be affected by the typhoon.
The DSWD regional office in Tuguegarao said that an initial 2,000 packs of relief goods have been readied to augment any relief operations by local governments any time.
Among the flood-prone areas being tightly watched are the Magat River in Nueva Vizcaya, Pinacanauan River in Isabela, Addalam River in Quirino and the Cagayan River in Cagayan.
Magat Dam engineer Saturnino Tenedor said they have already started releasing water since Sunday to avoid reaching spilling level, which may cause damage to power and irrigation facilities.
The Department of Education, on the other hand, said that preschool classes were automatically suspended in Masbate, Ticao Island, Marinduque, Batangas, Laguna, Rizal, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Bataan, Zambales, Pangasinan, La Union, Benguet, Mountain Province, Ilocos, Abra, Kalinga, Apayao, Calayan, and Babuyan.
All hands on deck
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome alerted all police offices in areas affected by Pedring to ensure availability of all personnel and resources for disaster response operations.
Bartolome instructed the PNP Sub-Committee on Disaster Management to activate the National Disaster Operations Center in Camp Crame to coordinate all PNP disaster response operations at the provincial and regional levels.
“PNP line units were also directed to assist the local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Committee and LGUs in providing security in evacuation centers,” he said.
Director Rommel Heredia, PNP Director for Police Community Relations, directed PNP Regional Offices in Northern and Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Eastern Visayas and Metro Manila, including the Special Action Force and Maritime Group to place their respective Search and Rescue Teams on standby alert for any contingency.
National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Alan Purisima, on the other hand, ordered his men to help in the evacuation of residents in low-lying areas of the cities of Marikina, Pasig, Parañaque, Taguig, Muntinlupa, Malabon, Navotas, Caloocan, Quezon, Valenzuela and Manila and the town of Pateros.
P-Noy monitoring developments
Meanwhile, President Aquino is monitoring the typhoon developments from Japan and has ordered concerned agencies to assist residents in affected areas.
“He (Aquino) is constantly updated with what’s happening in the country, not only with weather updates but also the situation here in the country,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing.
Aquino is now in Japan for four-day visit and will return to the country on Sept. 28.
“The instructions of the President have always been there. We’ve updated, upgraded the quality of forecasting… I think that’s a sea change. To put it humbly, we’re very accurate with respect to weather forecasting,” he said.
Lacierda said agencies like the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Department of the Interior and Local Government have been vigilant and responsive to the situation.
Work in government offices was not suspended yesterday despite the typhoon.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said state agencies have been alerted to for the typhoon and have undertaken the necessary preparations.
Armed Forces chief Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr. ordered the military’s Southern Luzon and Northern Luzon commands to coordinate with local officials and state agencies to support emergency response, rescue and relief operations.
“He (Oban) also instructed the military-positioned units in disaster-prone areas in Luzon to maintain their current deployment ready to provide response and relief and humanitarian assistance when needed,” Armed Forces public affairs chief Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said.
Burgos said the disaster response units have the necessary equipment and assets to respond to emergency situations. – With reports from Evelyn Macairan, Rudy Santos, Raymund Catindig, Charlie Lagasca, Rainier Allan Ronda, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Non Alquitran, Alexis Romero, Jaime Laude, Celso Amo