Zamboanga City welcomes Chinese New Year with much-needed rain

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Residents here welcomed the Lunar New Year with a sigh of relief – thanks to the two-hour heavy rain on Monday morning.

On her Facebook page, Mayor Isabelle Climaco Salazar posted: “Thank you Lord for the rain! Indeed, you show your love to us by blessing Zamboanga.  What a bountiful Chinese New Year! Gracias a Dios!”

Ira Lee Rosalita, another Facebook user, posted: “God is indeed gracious. We experienced rain here in Zamboanga City early this morning. All glory to His name!”

Former city councilor Rudy Lim said he woke up to “a wet ground and refreshing Monday.”

“A good sign as we celebrate Chinese New Year,” Lim said.

Maribel Enriquez, the chief meteorologist of Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration here, said the volume of rain was higher than the .6 millimeter of rainfall that the city had last month.

The regular rainfall for January was 49.7 millimeters.

For February, Enriquez said, the city has already experienced 3.4 millimeters of rainfall due to localized thunderstorms.

The regular rainfall for February should be 43.7 millimeters, Enriquez said.  SFM