AFP activates disaster response task force

Rescue workers carry a survivor on a stretcher after he was extracted from a collapsed wall in an informal settler house just beside the city jail building in Manila on Aug. 13. Two residents were killed and nine injured when a wall collapsed after heavy rains overnight, according to local authorities. AFP

The secretary of national defense on Saturday ordered the activation of the Disaster Response Task Force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) amid heavy rains which triggered floods in some parts of the country.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana had ordered the AFP to monitor the ongoing preemptive evacuations and get updates from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on flooded areas.

On Saturday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration warned of possible flooding in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon caused by the enhanced southwest monsoon or habagat.

Pagasa has issued an orange warning level in Metro Manila as most areas are submerged in flood waters.

In Quezon City, residents near Tullahan River were advised to evacuate as La Mesa Dam neared its spilling level.

The water level at La Mesa Dam has reached 13 cm below overflow level of 80.15 cm while the Marikina River was up to 17.77 cm as of 3:50 p.m.

All eight floodgates at the Marikina River have been opened.