PAG-ASA warns of three typhoons in the country from July to October

By Ronron
June 29, 2007

The Philippine government weather station warned on Friday of three typhoons to hit the country from July to October of this year.

PAG-ASA Director Martin Rellin, Jr. told a news briefing in Camp Aguinaldo on the National Disaster Consciousness celebration for the whole of next month that if the weather disturbances push through, it would be the second to fifth out of 20 expected typhoons for the year.

Rellin said two tropical cyclones were forecast to happen this month but they moved away due to the weakening of the southwest monsoon (locally called as habagat).

“The southwest monsoon is what triggers typhoons… We are blessed this month because we expected two but fortunately, nothing happened,” Rellin said.

So far, only one tropical cyclone has entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility this year. “Amang” came in May but did not touch land, said Rellin.

Rellin said if the expected typhoons push through next month, the first of the three will be called “Bebeng.”

“We have to be prepared. We hope the three (typhoons) will not materialize. But we have to prepare,” Rellin said.

National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) Executive Officer Glenn Rabonza said the most common disaster that hits the country is typhoon or those triggered by water, including landslides and flashfloods, followed by volcanic activities.

While strong earthquakes happen rarely, they leave heavy damages both on people and properties, he said.

Rabonza said the declaration of July as the National Disaster Consciousness Month is cited in Executive Order 137, issued in 1999.

“The objective of this is to raise the level of awareness of the people and communities to disaster so they will know how to respond. We all know how intense the disasters have been during the last few years,” said Rabonza, who is also the Administrator of the Office of Civil Defense.

Among the activities lined up for the month are disaster seminars and workshops among local government units, a Crash and Rescue Exercise, an Oil Spill Response Exercise, a National Multi-Stakeholders’ Dialogue on Disaster Risk Reduction, and earthquake drills.

Rabonza bared that following the February 2006 major landslide in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte, the government is now working on an “extensive hazard mapping” covering 43 provinces all over the country that are vulnerable to landslides.

The program is expected to be finished in 2010, although those done in Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Bohol and parts of Leyte have already been completed, he said.

As to the worst oil spill to hit the country that happened last year in Guimaras, Rabonza said there are moves now to “advance the implementation of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulation, requiring all carriers of black cargo or industrial oil to be double-hulled ships.”

Discussions among local officials are also ongoing about the proposal of making a strategic traffic route in Philippines seas for carriers of hazardous materials like industrial oil.

“The strategy is for us to move towards declaring the Philippines as a particularly sea-sensitive area before the IMO so we can reroute the traffic of tankers. Although, this effort is still in its early infancy,” Rabonza said.

Rabonza said the Philippine government is “learning from the lessons” of the Guinsaugon landslide and the Guimaras Oil Spill, both having caused major damage against life and natural resources./DMS