Aquino skips Boracay to visit flood victims

FLOOD RELIEF President Aquino distributes relief goods to evacuees at Nangka Elementary School in Marikina City where thousands have taken refuge from the flooding caused by Tropical Storm ‘‘Falcon.’’ The President had to cut short his first trip to the resort island of Boracay to visit flood victims in Metro Manila. GIL NARTEA /Malacañang photo

Braving heavy rains trailing Tropical Storm “Falcon,” President Benigno Aquino III on Saturday rushed back from a provincial sortie to attend to flood victims in the cities of Marikina and Malabon.

The President flew back to Metro Manila soon after inaugurating the renovated Godofredo Ramos Airport in Caticlan, Aklan.

From the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, his convoy motored straight to Nangka Elementary School in Marikina City to allow him to lead the distribution of relief goods to more than 1,000 evacuees.

The visit was relatively brief, but it did not stop Mr. Aquino from making what appeared to be another crack at Cotabato City Mayor Japal Guiani, who had earlier panned him for allegedly extending no help to flood victims in the mayor’s city.

“I just wanted to make sure that Mayor Del [de Guzman] was assisting you,” the President, apparently joking, told the evacuees.

He did not spare Guiani either when he proceeded to Malabon City, saying: “What’s important is that local government units were all ready, except for my favorite [mayor] there in Mindanao.”

In a serious vein, the President told Marikina residents to inform him, through their local leaders, of any help they would need in the wake of intense flooding brought about by Falcon.

“Just tell us what you need and rest assured we will act on it,” he said. “Let us help one another. Let us be for each other.”

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman and Executive Director Benito Ramos of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) accompanied Mr. Aquino.

Engineering intervention

From Marikina, Mr. Aquino proceeded to Potrero Elementary School in Malabon where 316 residents had taken shelter.

He said solving the perennial problem of flooding in areas of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela Cities would require “engineering intervention, a major public works program.” He said he would seek support from Congress.

“If you can’t stop flooding, we can at least improve the quality of living here,” he said.

Mr. Aquino also heaped praise on Soliman and Metropolitan Manila Development Chair Francis Tolentino for coordinating efforts to address storm-related problems. He said government response to Falcon was noticeably better than that during Tropical Storm “Ondoy” in 2009, which left more than 400 persons dead.

“During Ondoy, the government was really helpless,” he said. “This time, everyone helped.”

Fair skies expected

Falcon left the Philippines yesterday morning but gained strength as it moved north-northwest, dissolving a low-pressure area that spun off its tail over the Pacific Ocean on Friday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

It said fair skies were expected tomorrow as the southwest monsoon, which had been dumping rains over much of Luzon in the past few days, was expected to wane.

“The low-pressure area went out with Falcon quickly so it will continue to suck the southwest monsoon today. Fair weather [is expected] Monday to Wednesday,” said Graciano Yumul, supervising science undersecretary for Pagasa.

The storm signals last hoisted over the Calayan, Babuyan and Batanes islands were lifted Saturday. But the southwest monsoon continued to bring rains of between 6 and 15 millimeters per hour, considered heavy on the Pagasa scale, over parts of northern and Central Luzon throughout the day.

Pagasa also issued flash flood and landslide warnings in the Luzon provinces of Pampanga, Bataan, Bulacan, Zambales, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union, Benguet, Mountain Province, Abra, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte.

The Ipo Dam in Bulacan and the Ambuklao and Binga Dams in Benguet continued to release water as heavy rains filled the reservoirs to their spilling levels.

Disaster figures

More than 300,000 people in 27 towns and 14 cities across four regions, including Metro Manila and Bicol, were affected by floods wrought by Falcon as it exited the country.

Some 75,000 were evacuated from their homes, more than half of whom were from Albay province, and 20,000 from Metro Manila, according to a report by the NDRRMC.

Sixty-six houses were damaged, including houses in Quezon City that had their roofs blown off by a twister. One injury was reported—a 14-year-old girl who suffered cuts from debris carried by the twister.

The NDRRMC’s Ramos said in a radio interview that there were no fatalities so far.

NDRRMC monitoring of the dams and rivers showed that water levels had started receding, except in La Mesa and Ipo Dams, which were at critical levels as of Saturday morning, and Marikina River, Rosario Junction and San Juan River, which remained above the critical level, though Ramos said Marikina River had started going down as well.

The overflow of La Mesa Dam is expected to affect the low-lying areas along the Tullahan River, Fairview, Novaliches and the Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela) area, NDRRMC said.

It urged the concerned residents “to be alert for a possible increase in the water level downstream.”

Ramos said in the radio interview that the small number of casualties showed that the people had learned from Ondoy.

“The people had a good response. They evacuated readily. They learned the lessons of Ondoy,” he said.

Fishermen found

One of 10 fishermen missing in Catanduanes was found on the shores of Samar on Friday but search and rescue teams were still looking for 18 people from southern Luzon who went missing in the heavy rains, floods and huge waves spawned by Falcon.

Reports from the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and disaster response agencies said the missing included the nine fishermen in Catanduanes, seven fishermen in Camarines Norte, a woman in Albay and a 3-year-old girl believed to have drowned in Laguna.

OCD-Bicol Director Bernardo Alejandro said Catanduanes fisherman Prospero Tabios was found alive on the shoreline of Mapanas, Northern Samar. His return to Catanduanes was arranged by OCD officials.

On Friday, the Philippine Coast Guard rescued three fishermen whose motorboat capsized off Sangley Point in Cavite due to big waves caused by Falcon.

Lt. Cmdr Algier Ricafrente, Coast Guard spokesperson, said Jeff Franco, Felcon Cabriras and Cesar Dono showed signs of hypothermia when they were rescued after being in the water for more than five hours.

“They are now OK and have been turned over to the owner of their fishing boat,” Ricafrente said.

Alejandro said search and rescue teams continued to scour the waters off the towns of Virac, Bato and San Miguel in Catanduanes for the nine others who, along with Tabios, ventured out to sea on Wednesday despite bad weather.

In Camarines Norte, four fishermen from Jose Panganiban town were reported missing on top of the three from Vinzons town earlier reported lost at sea.

Alejandro said Albay suffered the biggest losses among provinces in Bicol, reporting P46.7 million in agriculture and infrastructure damage.

Flood alert

In Central Luzon, Hilton Hernando, chief meteorological officer of the Pampanga River Basin Flood Forecasting and Warning Center (PRBFFWC) yesterday issued an advisory alerting residents along the Pampanga River, Central Luzon’s main drainer, to expect flooding within 24 hours due to rising water levels.

The alert was intended for residents in the cities of Palayan and Cabanatuan and the towns of Natividad, Sta. Rosa, San Leonardo, San Isidro, Cabiao and Peñaranda in Nueva Ecija province; San Luis, Arayat, San Simon, Apalit, Candaba, Mexico, Sta. Ana, Sasmuan, Lubao, Guagua, Masantol and Macabebe towns in Pampanga; and Calumpit, Hagonoy and Paombong towns in Bulacan.

The PRBFFWC is supervised by Pagasa.

In Bataan, the Dinalupihan council declared a state of calamity in the town after floodwaters submerged most of its 48 villages.

Mayor Joel Jaime Payumo said rice fields, irrigation systems, fishponds and crops had been heavily damaged.

Payumo said the floods in most of the low-lying villages were waist-deep on Saturday. Roads passing through the villages of Sta. Isabel and San Ramon and leading to Subic Bay Freeport were impassable to light vehicles.

Landslides

In Mariveles town, Mayor Jesse Concepcion said landslides and uprooted trees blocked a section of the zigzag road leading to the free port area of Bataan.

At least 25 families in Pilar town were evacuated because of the rising level of Talisay River.

In Bulacan, the provincial disaster risk reduction and management council (PDRRMC) said year-old Ranny Bernardo drowned when he fell into a flooded area in front of their house in Sto. Niño village in Hagonoy.

Search teams were also looking for Glenn Belmonte, 23, who has been missing since he was swept away Friday by a strong current in Sta. Rosa village in Marilao.

The towns of Marilao, Bocaue, Balagtas, Bulakan, Guiguinto, Obando and the city of Meycauayan were flooded.

At least 18 houses in Bayugo and Bahay Pare in Meycauayan and two in Marilao were either damaged or destroyed by a reported twister Saturday morning.

In Pampanga, 200 villages in 16 of 20 towns were flooded, said Lulu Alingcastre, head of the PDRRMC. No evacuation had been monitored or reported Saturday, she said. With reports from Tarra Quismundo, DJ Yap and Philip C. Tubeza in Manila; Mar Arguelles and Jonas Cabiles Soltes, Inquirer Southern Luzon; Tonette Orejas, Greg Refraccion and Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon; and Vincent Cabreza and Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon