President orders forced evacuation of people in path of Typhoon ‘Pepeng’
 PRESIDENT Gloria Arroyo on Friday placed the entire country under a state of calamity, a day before Typhoon Pepeng (international codename: Parma) was expected to make landfall in Luzon, as local governments began forcibly evacuating people from areas directly in the storm’s path or prone to flooding and landslides.
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Trade Secretary Peter Favila made the announcement on government television after they emerged from an executive session that followed a meeting of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) in Cainta, Rizal, one of the areas hardest hit by devastating floods triggered by tropical storm Ondoy (international codename: Ketsana) last week.
Ondoy dumped a month’s worth of rains on Metro Manila and outlying provinces in less than a day, triggering the floods that affected more than three million people and killed at least 293.
Teodoro explained that the state of calamity was a preemptive measure because “we can’t estimate the effects of Typhoon Pepeng . . . which is expected to bring rains to many areas,” and to keep the prices of basic commodities at current levels.
The Trade department has added construction materials to the items subjected to price controls.
The declaration will also allow local governments to use 5 percent of their budgets for disaster response.
At the same time, President Arroyo also ordered the governors of provinces in Pepeng’s path to evacuate people from low-lying and coastal areas.
Preventive evacuation
“We need that preventative evacuation,” the President said in a nationally televised conference with government officials on preparations for Pepeng.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said that the duration of the state of calamity “will depend on the behavior of Pepeng. We hope that it will immediately exit the country because you know we are still attending to the victims of . . . Ondoy.”
Metro Manila and other areas hit by Ondoy’s floods still remained under a state calamity “[but] it is much better if the whole country [is placed under a state of calamity] so that local governments are prepared,” Remonde added.
In Geneva, the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that it was “extremely concerned” over the possible effects of Pepeng.
“Eight and a half million people live in the line of the typhoon and 1.8 million people live in areas along the path of the strongest winds,” said Elisabeth Byrs, the agency’s spokesman.
Packing winds of 195 kilometers per hour with gusts of up to 230kph, Pepeng slowed slightly as it moved closer to land on Friday afternoon, from 19kph to 13kph, and is now expected to make landfall in northern
Aurora province Saturday afternoon, instead of morning, before crossing Northern Luzon.
According to Gov. Bella Angara of Aurora, officials in the province were preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.
“The prediction is that this typhoon is very strong. Our prayers are that no lives will be lost. God answered our prayers [during Ondoy] and we are hopeful we will be spared again,” Angara said on radio.
But Prisco Nilo, chief of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said that the change in Pepeng’s pace could mean the storm might not hit Aurora but could either move further north, or travel south and closer to Metro Manila, which is still reeling from last Saturday’s floods.
“We will be watching over this. Everybody will just have to wait for any developments,” Nilo told reporters. “We all just have to prepare for whatever might happen.”
Pagasa has said that Pepeng could intensify into a “super typhoon” and make it necessary to raise Storm Signal No. 4.
The last time this happened was in 2006 when Super typhoon Reming lashed the country, killing more than 700 people, mostly in the Bicol region.
Nathaniel Cruz, the head of Pagasa’s weather forecasting unit, said during a radio interview that Pepeng’s “gusts are strong enough to destroy houses, to rip the roofs off houses.”
“The best thing we can do for the lives of our countrymen is to look for the strongest building where our countrymen can take refuge while the storm is passing,” he added.
Cruz warned people in Aurora and Isabela provinces not to be fooled into thinking the typhoon would not wreak havoc just because its winds have yet to be felt.
“They might think it isn’t something to worry about but from our radar and satellite image, we can see it is an incredibly strong typhoon,” he said.
Increased ferocity
Cruz added that Pepeng would likely not bring the heavy rains of Ondoy but was still likely to bring rain to Metro Manila, compounding the flooding which has not yet receded in many parts of the capital Manila and its surroundings.
The Philippines is normally battered by about 20 typhoons annually, but the pattern has changed in recent years and the ferocity of some has increased.
Some weather experts have blamed the changing nature and pattern of the typhoons on climate change.
On Friday afternoon, the weather bureau had placed Catanduanes province under public storm warning signal No. 3, meaning winds of 100kph to 185kph are expected.
Cagayan, Isabela, Aurora, Quirino, northern Quezon, Polilio Islands, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur
have been placed under Signal No. 2, meaning winds of 60kph to 100kph; while Signal No. 1, or winds of 30kph to 60kph, has been raised over Metro Manila, the Calayan Islands, Babuyan Islands, Ilocos Norte,
Ilocos Sur, Apayao, Abra, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, Benguet, La Union, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Laguna, Batangas, Cavite, Rizal, the rest of Quezon, Marinduque, Albay, Burias Islands and Sorsogon.
Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said that classes in the 204 schools—96 of these in Metro Manila—that are being used as evacuation centers for close to 700,000 victims of Ondoy’s floods will remain suspended.
He noted that more people have flocked to these schools in anticipation of Pepeng.
“Hindi naman natin maitataboy basta basta ang mga evacuees. In fact, mas dumami ang bilang ng mga taong pumupunta sa mga centers dahil sa threat ni Pepeng. Mas naantala tuloy ang kanilang pag-uwi sa kanilang mga bahay [We cannot drive the evacuees away. In fact, the number of people going to the centers has increased because of Pepeng’s threat. Their return to their homes has been delayed,” Lapus said.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) declared classes up to the tertiary level suspended in Regions I, II, III, IV-A, IV-B, V, and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), which are all expected to be affected by Pepeng.
In Nueva Ecija, two major road networks were impassable to all types of vehicles after the Pantabangan dam overflowed.
Provinces in the Bicol region began the “preemptive evacuation” of residents from flood-prone communities as early as Thursday evening.
In Albay, Gov. Joey Salceda ordered on Friday afternoon the evacuation of 49,352 persons, or 10,581 families, in 12 towns and cities. Besides floods, storm surges and landslides, several communities near Mayon Volcano are also exposed to mudflows.
Classes at all levels were also suspended in the province.
In Calabanga, Camarines Sur, 124 persons were evacuated to the Union High School.
The Philippine Coast Guard said that 1,900 passengers were stranded in the ports of Matnog, Tabaco, Bulan, Pilar and Pioduran after sea travel was suspended on Friday.
The Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) has recommended the preemptive evacuation of around 100,000 residents living around the lake and has tapped the military to help.
LLDA General Manager Ed Manda, during a press briefing at the NDCC headquarters, said that the water level of Laguna Lake has risen by 1.2 meters to between 14 and 14.5 meters, because of Ondoy’s rains.
Proper time
“Save whatever you can, especially your life, save whatever properties and go to the evacuation centers . . . now is the time to enforce [preemptive] relocation . . . it should be done ASAP [as soon as possible]. This is the proper time to remove them,” Manda added.
He noted that at least 5,000 families live along the Napindan Channel, which connects the lake and the Pasig River, alone.
Manda said that millions of people in lakeside communities would still be affected if the water level rose any higher.
Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. ordered emergency equipment and maintenance crews deployed to critical sections of the Daang Maharlika and Manila North Road.
He also instructed his department’s offices in Regions I, II, III, and the Cordillera Administrative Region, and the Bureau of Maintenance to mount a round-the-clock monitoring of national roads beginning Friday.
Local governments in Metro Manila rushed to put in place disaster response systems while the Public Works department inspected advertising billboards to make sure these had been rolled up.
In 2006, several billboards collapsed when Typhoons Milenyo and Reming struck.
With Reports From James Konstantin Galvez, Roselle R. Aquino, Frank Lloyd Tiongson, William B. Depasupil Rhaydz B. Barcia, Jun Marcos, Cris G. Odronia, Jefferson Antiporda,
Angelo S. Samonte,
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