Pepeng weakens, slows down after battering NE Luzon

Typhoon "Pepeng" has weakened and slowed down hours after it wrought havoc in northeastern Luzon, shrouding the provinces of Cagayan, Kalinga, Apayao and parts of Isabela in darkness beginning Saturday afternoon. In its 11 p.m. weather bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Adminisration said Pepeng's maximum sustained winds, an indicator of the typhoon's intensity, decreased to 160 kilometers per hour near the center, with gustiness of up to195 kph. It was moving west-northwest at a slower pace of seven kph. The center of the typhoon was last seen 50 kilometers west of Aparri. It is expected to be 180 km northwest of Aparri Sunday evening. Public Storm Signal No. 3 remains hoisted over Batanes, Cagayan, Babuyan Islands, Calayan Island, Ilocos Norte, Apayao, Abra, and Kalinga. Storm Signal No. 2 is up over Ilocos Sur, Mt. Province, and northern Isabela, while La Union, Benguet, Ifugao, the rest of Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan and Quirino are under Signal No. 1. - ANDREO C. CALONZO, GMANews.TV