NDCC alerts people in Bicol as typhoon season sets in

By Ronron
July 12, 2007

Disaster officials in the country alerted people in the Bicol region on Wednesday as the typhoon season sets in this month, starting with “Bebeng.”

During the meeting of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) the other night (Wednesday) at Camp Aguinaldo, officials said the soil in the Bicol region is too soft that it will only need little trickles to cause lahar flow.

The region was hit hard during last year’s typhoon Reming, triggered by the active status of Mayon Volcano which brought out ashes.

“We should take a more pro-active stance for Bicol,” said Martin Rellin, Jr., Director of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA).

“We should watch out for Bicol, especially Albay,” echoed Dr. Graciano Yumul, Jr. Undersecretary for Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Rellin said that although “Bebeng” is forecast not to touch land, it will still draw in rains in the Southern Luzon areas and the Visayas until Saturday or Sunday.

During the meeting, National Security Adviser and concurrent Defense acting Secretary Norberto Gonzales directed the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to make the necessary preparations, especially for Bicol.

He also directed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), PAG-ASA, the Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH), and the PAG-ASA to meet to identify the landslide and flashflood prone areas in the country where the military’s engineering brigade could be dispatched before the onset of the typhoon.

The DENR disclosed that there are 820 municipalities, mostly in the eastern part of the country, identified as critical to landslide and flooding.

“I don’t want us being caught in the middle of the typhoon,” Gonzales, who chairs the NDCC, said during the meeting.

He said he already sent most of the undersecretaries and assistance secretaries of the Department of National Defense to the different regions in the country, which is experiencing the effect of “Bebeng” so they could assess the demands of the people there.

Asked about the preparations for the billboards in the capital, most of which collapsed during last year’s typhoons, Gonzales said: “(Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman) Bayan Fernando is very good on that. He’s taking steps already.”

He did not elaborate, however.

PAG-ASA has earlier warned of three typhoons to come into the country starting this month until October.

It said that on an average, based on historical accounts, 20 tropical cyclones enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility every year, but only seven of which hit land.

Of the seven, three to four are said to be destructive.

NDCC Executive Officer Glenn Rabonza said the government has a calamity fund of P1 billion for this year, but he disclosed that a few portion of that was already spent./DMS