10 missing as heavy rains, floods hit Metro

Ten people were reported missing as heavy rains and flooding hit Metro Manila overnight, causing long traffic jams, the Camp Aguinaldo-based Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said yesterday.

In Muntinlupa City, two children and a man went missing in Barangay Cupang after they were swept away by the overflowing Cupang creek as they prepared to abandon their shanty, the OCD said, adding that it was searching for the victims.

The three missing were identified as Alexander Bihag, 24; and Angel and Alison Analupa, aged one and two, respectively.

Rescue workers were able to rescue four-year-olds Sunshine Analupa and Christine Talento.

Over 300 others were evacuated from low-lying areas in and around Metro Manila, the OCD reported.

An undetermined number of people were forced to flee their homes in Muntinlupa City due to flooding after almost two days of torrential rains.

Amphibious vehicles and rubber boats were dispatched to Muntinlupa to help the evacuees and search for the missing victims.

A major road leading south of Manila remained flooded with water and was impassable to most small vehicles, the flood control unit said. However, the flooding that hit many roads in the metropolis late Thursday had largely subsided.

At least 95 families comprising 475 people in low-lying areas of Marikina City were roused from their sleep at 6 a.m. and evacuated to higher ground as the Marikina River swelled to critical levels.

Residents of Barangays Nangka and Malanday were moved to makeshift evacuation centers — barangay halls and basketball courts — as the Marikina River’s water level rose to 19 meters, almost double its normal level of 11 to 12 meters.

Despite the danger they faced from the rising river, some Marikina residents stayed in their homes, apparently more afraid of being robbed than of drowning.

Marikina City Mayor Maria Lourdes Fernando distributed food and groceries to the evacuees, even as some of the evacuees chose to return home as early as 3 p.m., when the rains eased up.

The Tumana bridge spanning the Marikina river was declared impassable to all types of vehicles.

Meanwhile, the Department of Education urged parents and students to check on the old DepEd memorandum order regarding the suspension of classes, especially during the rainy season.

Under DepEd memorandum order No. 28 dated June 3, 2005 titled "Guidelines on the Suspension of Classes When Typhoons and Calamities Occur," the education department revised the rules on the automatic suspension of classes in all public and private elementary and high schools.

Under the DepEd memorandum, classes are automatically suspended for all pre-school students during storm signal No. 1.

Classes in all private and public pre-schools and elementary and high schools are automatically suspended upon the announcement of storm signal number two — a storm warning the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) announces over broadcast media such as radio and television.

Classes at all levels are automatically suspended once Pagasa announces storm signal No. 3.

In the absence of storm signal warnings from Pagasa, the localized suspension of classes in both public and private elementary and high schools may be implemented by the school principals.

The DepEd’s school division superintendents may also suspend classes if the storms affect the division under their jurisdiction.

The memorandum also advises parents to check media advisories from Pagasa, DepEd, their disaster coordinating councils (DCCs) and local government unit (LGU) offices.

In the absence of any official storm warnings and suspensions of classes, parents have the ultimate responsibility of determining whether or not their children should go to school, the DepEd said.

The education department also said in its memorandum that make-up classes to offset days when classes were suspended will be based on the required number of days in the school year. These make-up classes will be held on Saturdays or weekdays beyond the original school calendar for both public and private schools.

Afternoon classes were suspended in all public elementary and high schools in the coastal, flood-prone town of Navotas and Malabon City.

According to Richie Gregorio, a staffer of the office of Malabon City Mayor Tito Oreta, classes in public elementary and high schools were suspended in anticipation of flashfloods.

At least four of the city’s low-lying barangays — Catmon, Tonsuya, Ibaba and San Agustin — were so heavily flooded they were impassable to light vehicles.

Last week, Oreta ordered the Malabon engineering office to rush the construction of the city’s flood control projects after P5 million was allocated to them.

In neighboring Caloocan City, which is also prone to flooding, classes went on as usual, according to Caloocan school district administrative officer Asuncion Manalo.

However, classes at the Kaunlaran Elementary School in Dagat-Dagatan, Caloocan’s most flood-prone area, were suspended.

The traditional fishing area known as Camanava (Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela) is the most flood-prone part of northern Metro Manila, owing to these cities’ and towns’ proximity to Manila Bay.

Flooding also affected the outlying provinces. In Pampanga, the town of Candaba was inundated after the Maasim river and Malisic creek overflowed.

The Nueva Ecija-Aurora Highway was closed to traffic after landslides triggered by the heavy downpour rendered the road impassable.

In Bulacan, the Manila North Road was inundated by floodwaters at the Marilao-Bocaue boundary.

Rising floodwaters also forced the closure of the Sta. Ana-Candaba-Baliwag and Candaba-San Miguel roads in Pampanga.

The OCD said 138 families from the villages of Bahay Pare, Bisal San Pablo, Pasig and San Agustin in Pampanga were displaced by floods.

In Rizal, 302 residents of Calayan village in the town of Angono returned home from evacuation centers after the floodwaters receded.

The low-lying coastal villages of Cavite — Kawit, Alamitan, General Trias, Imus, Bacoor and Noveleta — were immersed in knee- and waist-deep waters.

The heavy rains were spawned by a low-pressure area spotted some 60 kilometers southeast of Zambales province’s capital town of Iba.

Weather forecasters advised the public to expect more rains in central and southern Luzon and the western Visayas in the days to come. — Non Alquitran, Jaime Laude, Pete Laude, Rhodina Villanueva, Sandy Araneta, AFP and AP