DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan—Mayors of western Pangasinan towns have mobilized their disaster coordinating councils in preparation for Typhoon "Emong," which is expected to hit northwestern Luzon Friday.

Anda Mayor Nestor Pulido Thursday said he has ordered the town's municipal social welfare and development officer to stockpile relief goods for families in coastal villages which may be displaced by Emong.

"The most affected people here are those in the fishing villages because they could no longer go out to fish in the sea," Pulido said in a telephone interview. “And when they cannot fish, they will have nothing to eat."

Wilfedo Castelo, Bolinao municipal administrator, said local government employees living on the islands have been asked to go home Thursday morning because the sea is expected to get rough in the afternoon and they might get stranded.

The town has island villages jutting out to the South China Sea, where
Emong intensified from a low pressure to a tropical storm heading northeast.

"We have also set up evacuation centers and prepared our ambulances and other government vehicles in case we need to evacuate residents," Castelo said.

Alaminos City Mayor Hernani Braganza said the city government is more prepared now compared to last year, when Typhoon "Cosme" devastated
western Pangasinan also in May.

"The national government's warning system is better now because it gives us time to prepare. Last year, we were surprised by Cosme," Braganza said.

In Infanta, the entry point of Cosme last year and the most devastated Pangasinan town then, Mayor Ruperto Martinez was presiding over a meeting of the municipal disaster coordinating council when reached by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Castelo said he has ordered fishermen in his town not to sail and fish in the South China Sea because of the typhoon.

"Even the big fishing boats are now anchored. We have also asked them to secure their boats to avoid being damaged by the wind," he said.

But an Infanta town employee, who asked not be named, said several local fishermen have already set out to sea even before the typhoon warning was
issued.

"That's our problem, there are already those who are at sea," he said in Filipino.

Fishermen usually stay at sea for at least five days, he said.