‘Ramil’ leaves 6 fatalities

Two persons died after a boulder crushed this beach house in San Juan town in Batangas. —PHOTO COURTESY OF BATANGAS PNP

BATANGAS CITY—At least six people died while four others were hurt in separate incidents in southern Luzon after heavy rains dumped by Tropical Storm “Ramil” triggered landslides and floods this week.

In Batangas province, two resort guests in Parasol Beach Resort in San Juan town died after their rooms were hit by a boulder loosened by continuous rains on Wednesday.

Police identified the fatalities as Ma. Luisa Santos, 48, and her nephew, Christopher Cruz, 17. Santos’ children, Emy Louise, 18, and Emel Luis, 21, and brother-in-law, Baltazar, 37, were injured.

They were asleep in a 40-foot long container, converted into a “beach house” with three rooms, when a boulder, “as big as a house,” hit and crushed it, Supt. Joemar Labiano, San Juan police chief, said.

But Lito Castro, provincial disaster risk reduction and management officer, said the deaths could not be classified as “related” to Ramil since there was no storm signal raised over Batangas during the landslide.

The weather bureau said the storm’s center, as of Thursday afternoon, was estimated at 425 kilometers northwest of Coron town in Palawan.

Labiano said rocks, as big as a fist, were still rolling down a hilly portion of Barangay Laiya-Ibabao, as heavy rains continued on Thursday.

In Camarines Sur province, a man died in a landslide that hit Sagñay town on Thursday, said Lucena Bermeo, chief of the province’s environment, disaster management and emergency office.

Bermeo said Ryan Lasamareñas, 32, was found by rescuers wrapped in a blanket underneath debris in Barangay Sibaguan, a village along the coastal road connecting Sagñay to Tiwi town in Albay province.

Lucy Castañeda, spokesperson for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Bicol region, said a landslide rendered the road along Sagñay-Tiwi boundary, in the villages of Sibaguan and Bongalon, impassable to all types of vehicles.

At least eight landslides hit the 37-km road stretch connecting Pili and Tigaon, also in Camarines Sur, and the boundary of Sagñay and Tiwi, Castañeda said.

In Palawan, police said Laiza Mayo, 21, and sisters Catherine, 13, and Catline Apolinario, 12, drowned in Demachikchik River in Busuanga town on Wednesday afternoon.

Police said it was raining hard when the girls went swimming with their cousins.

In Nueva Ecija province, 110 families from two villages in Gapan City evacuated to safer ground as water levels in rivers and creeks rose due to heavy rains on Thursday.

In Cagayan province, floods triggered by monsoon rains prompted the provincial government to cancel classes in all levels.

In Isabela province, floods submerged the Alicaocao bridge in Cauayan City, the Santa Maria-Cabagan bridge, the Cabagan-Santo Tomas bridge and the Annafunan bridge. —REPORTS FROM MAR S. ARGUELLES, MARRAH ERIKA RABE, MARICAR CINCO, JUAN ESCANDOR JR., MADONNA T. VIROLA, ARMAND GALANG AND VILLAMOR VISAYA JR.