FLOODED CANDABA UNDER STATE OF CALAMITY / BICOL: 'LABUYO' KILLS 7
CANDABA, PAMPANGA September 22, 2005 (STAR) Municipal officials placed this town under a state of calamity yesterday as the swelling waters of the Pampanga River breached dikes and triggered erosion, threatening at least 138 families living on the banks of the river in six barangays.The floods have destroyed some P10 million worth of agricultural products, including honeydew and watermelons, municipal officials said.
Mayor Jerry Pelayo said the 138 families from the barangays of Sto. Rosario, Gulap, Buas, Bangbang, Mandasig, Lanang and Tansingao have abandoned their homes as strong currents continued to rapidly erode the banks of the Pampanga River.
"The 138 families can no longer go back to their homes which will surely be eroded into the Pampanga River," Pelayo said, adding that there are plans to permanently relocate them elsewhere.
President Arroyo is slated to visit the flooded areas here today after attending an assembly of barangay officials at Expo Pilipino at the Clark special economic zone, Pelayo said.
Municipal engineer Alex Veneracion said the swelling waters of the Pampanga River have breached three sections of the Arnedo dike in Barangays Mandasig, Lanang and Pansinao.
Veneracion said portions of the Arnedo dike were also breached in Barangays Malisik, Barangca, Mapaniqui and Salapungan as well as parts of the Maasim dike in Bahay Pare, Dulong Ilog, Visal Sto. Nino and Pulong Gubat.
Damage to the dikes was placed at P13.25 million.
An estimated 148 hectares of farmlands in the barangays of Paliqui, Mandili, Tagulod, Salapungan, Lourdes, Cuayang Bugtong, Bahay Pare, Visal San Pablo and Pulong Plaza remained under four to five feet of floodwaters.
In Barangay San Agustin, some 1,000 families were flood-stricken, Pelayo said.
Pelayo said plans are afoot for the construction of new homes for the 138 families near the Candaba-Sta. Ana boundary with the help of Gawad Kalinga. Sen. Francis Pangilinan is initiating the housing program.
Pelayo blamed the worsening flooding in his town to the heavy siltation of the Pampanga River.
He said even the town proper of Candaba is now in danger of being hit by floodwaters from the river.
"Candaba is below sea level and the only measure to curb the worsening threat of calamities is to continue a river channel project abandoned by the government years ago. The new channel would deflect the flow of the river from populated areas," he said.
Pelayo said he has coordinated with the Department of Public Works and Highways so the channel project could be pursued. — Ding Cervantes
‘Labuyo’ kills 7 in Bicol
Tropical storm "Labuyo" has killed at least seven people, including a father and son who sought shelter in a cave in Camalig, Albay, and flooded dozens of villages across the Bicol region, officials said yesterday.
One woman was reported missing after she slipped off a bridge into a river in Albay, the Office of Civil Defense said.
Weather forecasters raised the first of a four-stage storm warning over 14 Luzon provinces as "Labuyo" headed northwest from the Pacific Ocean toward Cagayan with sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau warned ships in the Bashi Channel separating Taiwan from the Philippines to take precautions as the storm approaches the island’s southern waters.
"Labuyo" (international codename — Damrey) was unlikely to hit the island directly but could cause torrential rains in southern Taiwan, the bureau said.
The tropical storm followed monsoon rains last week that flooded wide areas of Luzon and left at least eight people dead and displaced more than 2,000 people.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said 35 villages were flooded in the Bicol provinces of Camarines Sur and Albay.
Jason Aragon, the OCD’s Bicol operations officer, identified the fatalities as Efren Napili, 45, and his son Joeffrey, 18, of Camalig town; Esther Bosita, 40, of Rapu-Rapu town; and Jeremio Reonal, 10, of Oas town, all in Albay; Sonny Tanay, 16, of Bato, Camarines Sur; Ronald Evangelista, one year and 11 months old; and a still unidentified female resident of Monreal, Masbate.
Aragon said floodwaters in at least eight barangays in Minalabac town and eight others in Bato town, both in Camarines Sur, are knee- to waist-deep.
Cedric Daep, head of the Albay disaster management office, said the provincial government has placed at least 20 villages in Libon and 10 others in Oas under a state of calamity.
Daep said repair work has started on roads rendered impassable by rampaging floodwaters from the slopes of Mayon Volcano.
Initial estimates placed the damage to infrastructure and agricultural produce across Bicol at P78 million.
The National Disaster Coordinating Council said the water levels of the Upper, Middle and Upper Bicol River have been steadily rising.
In Marinduque, a 30-year-old man and an eight-year-old boy were still reported missing after a landslide buried their homes in Barangay Duyay, Boac town.
Forecaster Noel Pregonero said the rains brought by "Labuyo" were not as intense as last week’s downpours.
The Philippines is hit by about 20 storms and typhoons a year. Three storms that came within days of each other late last year triggered massive landslides and flash floods that left more than 1,000 dead or missing in northeastern provinces, making it the worst typhoon season since 6,000 were killed in Southern Leyte in 1991.
To prevent a repeat of last year’s tragedy, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Michael Defensor has mobilized DENR officials in Regions 1, 2, 3 and 4-A.
"We have to do something to (prevent a repeat) of the killer landslides that occurred last year in Quezon and Aurora," he said. — Cet Dematera, Jaime Laude, Katherine Adraneda, Arnell Ozaeta
Five dead, one missing as high winds batter east Philippines 09/21 11:12:22 AM
MANILA (AFP) - Five people were killed when a storm battered the Philippines' east coast, rescuers said Wednesday.
All five fatalities were reported in the Bicol peninsula southeast of Manila, including three who drowned as floods swept through parts of nine towns. The civil defense office did not say how the other two victims died.
Some 242 hectares (598 acres) of farmland were damaged, it added.
The damage was wrought by a tropical depression with winds of 55 kilometers (34 miles) an hour.
The eye of the storm struck the northeast coast of the main island of Luzon early Wednesday after dumping heavy rain across Bicol.
The coastguard allowed ferry services between Bicol and nearby islands to resume early Wednesday after a two-day suspension.
One dead, ferry services on hold as high winds batter east Philippines 09/20 3:35:52 PM
MANILA (AFP) - A boy drowned and several hundred commuters were left stranded in the eastern Philippines after some ferry services were cut amid stormy weather, the civil defence officeand coastguard said Tuesday.
A tropical depression with strong winds bore down on the eastern flank of the main island of Luzon, unleashing 109 millimeters (4.3 inches) of rain in the area over the past 43 hours, the weather bureau here said.
The body of a 10-year-old boy who had been missing since the weekend was found Tuesday not far from his hometown of Oas in the Bicol peninsula southeast of Manila after he was carried off by a flash flood.
The coastguard suspended ferry services Tuesday between Bicol and nearby islands as a precaution.
Five vessels with 373 passengers on board were left stranded in Bicol ports, the civil defense office said.
The office warned residents of low-lying areas as well as coastal villages and at the foots of mountains to be on alert for possible flash floods and landslides.
Landslides caused by storms killed an estimated 1,800 people in Aurora and Quezon provinces on Luzon's east coast late last year.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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