Alert remains as 'Butchoy' lingers

Manila, Philippines -  The state weather bureau yesterday said that typhoon “Butchoy” has gained strength as it continues to veer away from the country.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), on the other hand, remains on red alert status despite the downgrading of Butchoy to signal No. 1 in most parts of the country.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in its 5 p.m. weather forecast that if But-choy (international name Guchol) would maintain its speed and movement, it would be out of the Philippine area of responsibility by Monday evening.

“It is expected to proceed to the southern part of Japan, in Okinawa,” said PAGASA forecaster Fernando Cada.

The weather bureau said that Butchoy was positioned at 490 kilometers east northeast of Virac, Catanduanes, packing maximum sustained winds of 160 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 195 kph.

It is moving north northwest at a speed of 20 kph.

Butchoy had a maximum sustained winds of 120 kph near the center and gustiness of 150 kph at 11 a.m. yesterday and was moving at 15 kph.

“Small fishing boats are advised not to sail. While big vessels cannot be prevented from sailing because there is no storm signal, they should be on alert for big waves if they would insist on sailing,” said Cada.

He added that the seaboards in Luzon, the Visayas and eastern Mindanao had been assessed to have rough to very rough seas.

PAGASA said that Luzon and the Visayas would have occasional rains that could become frequent over the western section of Luzon and eastern Visayas that may trigger flashfloods and landslides.

Mindanao would be mostly cloudy with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms.

Moderate to strong winds blowing from the southwest to south would prevail over northern Luzon coming from the southwest over the rest of the country.

Meanwhile, Cada advised families planning to spend Father’s Day today outside their homes to bring umbrellas.

“There are indications that it would be rainy in Metro Manila. There would be occasional to frequent rains anytime of the day,” he said,

but added that it would not be raining hard.

“The characteristic is that it would rain, then stop raining, then be sunny. It would not be continuous rain.”

Getting ready

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon Soliman said that all their 17 regional offices, including ARMM, are ready with their disaster preparedness and response plan for Butchoy.

DSWD explained that each regional office has its own standby funds and stockpile of relief items ready to be distributed to affected local government units.

“Overall, the DSWD has P12-million standby funds and P138-million stockpile of relief items, including those stored at the National Resource Operations Center in Pasay City,” Soliman said.

The DSWD also has eight Quick Response Teams with 71 members at the Central Office in addition to the 901 members from the regional level who are all trained on Disaster Response Management.

NDRRMC operations chief Edgardo Ollet said they could not risk downgrading the red alert status because the national disaster unit is also closely watching natural calamities like last Friday’s earthquake that hit certain areas of Davao and yesterday’s offshore tremor in Sta. Catalina, Ilocos Norte.

Ollet called on all fishermen in the affected areas, as well as those who are living in known danger zones like riverbanks and mountain slopes, to heed disaster advisories coming from national down to the local disaster units.

“Fishing boats and other small seacraft are advised not to venture out into the seaboards of Luzon and eastern Mindanao due to big waves generated by the southwest monsoon and Butchoy, which has become a typhoon in the middle of the ocean yesterday,” he said.

Ollet issued the call after an unidentified pump boat with 10 persons on board capsized in the rough waters off the coast of barangay Birawan, Daram, Samar Friday afternoon.

Joint Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and local police search team rescued all passengers, who were teachers of Daram Elementary School.

PCG spokesman Lieutenant Commander Arman Balilo said that the passengers were all rescued by PCG search and rescue personnel at around 10 p.m. and are in good condition.

It has been customary for them to rent the pump boat as a group in order for them to go to work and attend classes in Daram.

The PCG also suspended the search and rescue operations at sea for the three remaining missing passengers of the wooden-hulled passenger and cargo ship M/V Josille II because of rough seas.

Instead, they have dispatched personnel to look at the nearby islands in Palawan to search on foot to locate the missing persons, who could have sought shelter in any of these areas.

Seven persons have already been confirmed dead when the M/V Josille sank off El Nido, Palawan last June 12. There were 66 survivors.

The PCG has yet to determine the cause of the incident.

Palace warns residents

Meanwhile, Malacañang urged residents living in typhoon-affected areas to cooperate with their local officials to avoid untoward incidents.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte also asked the public to heed the warnings issued by state agencies and to avoid actions that would put them at risk.

“We have warnings about possible flashfloods and landslides. We’ll add our voice to this one. Fishing boats and other small seacraft are advised not to venture out in the seaboards of Luzon, Visayas and eastern Mindanao because of the huge waves,” Valte said.

“Let us cooperate with our local authorities, if they say we cannot sail so we can avoid accidents,” she added, reiterating that government agencies are prepared for the impact of the typhoon.

She said government personnel have been propositioned to assist areas hit by the typhoon. – Alexis Romero