A LOW pressure area (LPA) being monitored in the past days is already in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) area, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said yesterday.
As of 3 p.m. yesterday, the LPA was some 415 km west of Bacnotan, La Union, said weather specialist Rhea Torres.
“The center of the LPA is almost at the boundary of our Philippine area of responsibility (PAR),” said Torres, adding that the weather system may exit PAR “in the coming hours.”
On Sunday afternoon, the LPA was located some 215 km east of Baler in Aurora, which means it has crossed the Luzon landmass because it was already in the WPS area as of yesterday afternoon.
Torre said the LPA may intensify into a tropical depression in the next 24 hours.
If the LPA intensifies into a tropical depression while inside the PAR, it will be named “Auring,” and will be the country’s first tropical cyclone for this year.
Torre said the weather system currently affecting many parts of the country is the southwest monsoon.
PAGASA, in a weather update, said Zambales, Bataan, Cavite, Batangas, Occidental Mindoro, and Palawan will experience occasional rains due to the southwest monsoon.
It said Metro Manila, the Visayas, Bicol region, and the rest of Central Luzon, Mimaropa, and Calabarzon regions will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms also due to the southwest monsoon.
The southwest monsoon will also bring partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms in Mindanao, PAGASA said.
The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms due to localized thunderstorm.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said more than 2,500 persons or 651 families were evacuated in the Central Luzon and the Zamboanga Peninsula regions due to monsoon rains that have resulted in flooding in several areas in the two regions.
Assistant Secretary and DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao said 12,940 persons or 3,700 families in 32 barangays in the Regions III (Central Luzon) and IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) were affected while 49 persons (10 families) from Region III and 1,549 people (651 families) from Region IX were forced to evacuate.
She said the number is expected to increase as more reports from the regions come in.
Dumlao also said at least P549,000 worth of family food packs and non-food relief items have even been provided to those affected by the monsoon.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said a Chinese vessel ran aground at a reef near the Philippine-occupied Pagasa island in the WPS last Saturday.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, the PCG’s spokesman for the WPS, said the vessel with bow number 16838 managed to extricate itself from the reef three hours it ran aground about one nautical mile from Pagasa Island.
“The said Chinese vessel was likely driven into the shallow area due to adverse sea conditions, characterized by wave heights of 2-3 meters and strong winds,” Tarriela said in a statement.
He said PCG personnel stationed at Pagasa Island reached out to the Chinese vessel to evaluate its condition and render support for its extrication to prevent further damage to coral reef.
“Unfortunately, the vessel did not respond to the PCG’s inquiries,” said Tarriela.
Tarriela said a Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessel, with bow number 5102, communicated with the Chinese maritime vessel during the incident.
He said the CCG vessel “opted not to approach.”
Tarriela said the PCG and other agencies are preparing to conduct environmental damage assessment caused by the “unlawful presence of the Chinese maritime militia (vessel) in the Philippines’ territorial waters.” – With Jocelyn Montemayor
