PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered government agencies to activate disaster preparedness and contingency measures in anticipation of flooding this rainy season, including tapping of beneficiaries of the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) in operations to unclog waterways and drainage systems.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro made the statement yesterday amid the suspension of classes in several cities in Metro Manila and nearby areas because of floods caused by rains from the southwest monsoon and a low pressure area.
Class suspensions were declared in Quezon, Caloocan, Marikina, Mandaluyong, San Juan, and Pasig cities in Metro Manila, and in areas in Cavite, Cagayan, and Batanes provinces, among others.
Diego Agustin, chief of the News and Information Office of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), said floods were reported in some areas in Metro Manila, including Mandaluyong, Caloocan, Malabon, and Navotas, and in Valenzuela City.
Castro, in a briefing in Malacañang, said the president has ordered the immediate clearing of drainage systems to prevent flooding.
She said the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has identified 23 priority esteros in the National Capital Region that should be prioritized in the clearing activities.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) were also directed to tap the TUPAD beneficiaries to help clear waterways, she said.
DOLE oversees the implementation of TUPAD which provides several days of emergency work like cleanup, repair, or rehabilitation activities, for displaced, underemployed, and seasonal workers.
Castro urged the public to be more responsible and disciplined in disposing of garbage to prevent floods.
Castro said the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has asked local government units (LGUs) to strengthen their disaster preparedness by “activating emergency operations centers, checking evacuation facilities, reviewing contingency plans, and enforcing no-build zones in hazard-prone areas.”
Meanwhile, the system for suspending classes stays as the president has not made a decision, Castro said.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla has asked the president to give his department the authority to suspend classes during typhoons.
Currently, LGUs decide on class suspensions.
PAGASA, in a report issued at 4 p.m. yesterday, said the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Apayao, Kalinga, Abra, Batanes, and Cagayan will experience cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms in the next 12 hours due to the low pressure area (LPA).
Metro Manila, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan, Zambales, Bataan, Cavite, Batangas, and Occidental Mindoro provinces, and the rest of Cagayan Valley region and of the Cordillera Administrative Region will experience occasional rains due to the southwest monsoon.
Western Visayas and the rest of Luzon will have cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms also due to the southwest monsoon.
The rest of the country, PAGASA said, will be have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms also due to the southwest monsoon.
PAGASA weather specialist Benison Estareja said the LPA has a “medium chance” of developing into a tropical depression.
The LPA was in the coastal waters of Sabtang, Batanes as of 3 p.m. yesterday, he said.
“Within the next 24 hours, it will move slowly away from Batanes in the northern portion of West Philippine Sea,” he added,
Over the weekend, the LPA will move northeast towards Taiwan. It will continue to affect the country until early next week. – With Christian Oineza
