PAGASA: Rain on Metro Manila, south Luzon not from cyclone

The rain that fell on parts of Metro Manila and Southern Luzon since Friday night are not from a cyclone, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said Saturday. But PAGASA forecaster Glaiza Escollar, in an iterview on dzBB, said residents in Central and Southern Luzon may have to brace for more rain brought by a low-pressure area (LPA) and the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ). Citing PAGASA data, Escollar noted heavy rain in the western section of Visayas, Southern Luzon and the Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon (CALABARZON) area since late Friday. Rain was also heavy in Masbate, Legazpi City and Albay in Bicol, she added. Meanwhile, Escollar said the LPA was estimated at 70 km south of Legazpi City (Albay) or in the Masbate area as of 2 a.m. Saturday, and is embedded in the ITCZ. "Because of this disturbance, there may be flash floods and landslides in parts of Central and Southern Luzon," she said. More rain in Central Luzon Residents of Central Luzon, still reeling from floods caused by Typhoon Pedring (Nesat), may have to brace for heavy rain on Saturday, Escollar said. She said that while there was relatively little rain in Central Luzon Friday night, PAGASA expects the bulk of rain to be concentrated there Sunday. Early this week, President Benigno Aquino III visited some of the flood-hit areas in parts of Central Luzon, including Pampanga and Bulacan provinces. At least 11 medical teams have been deployed to evacuation centers in Bulacan and Pampanga to address health problems hounding residents hit by floods from recent typhoons Pedring and Quiel (Nalgae). The Department of Health (DOH) said the teams from hospitals in Metro Manila and nearby provinces provided basic health services to those displaced by the two cyclones. In a news release, the DOH said its regional office in Central Luzon provided water disinfectants in areas without potable water supply, allocated Doxycycline prophylaxis for the prevention of leptospirosis, coordinated the immediate provision of measles vaccination, and recommended the administration of vitamin A to children below five years old in evacuation centers. “We wish to inform everyone that the government is on top of the situation and is doing its best to help all those affected by typhoons Pedring and Quiel," DOH Secretary Enrique Ona said. Last Oct. 1, an advance team was deployed to the affected areas to assess the conditions of the affected residents. Earlier this week, Ona visited some affected barangays in Bulacan with President Aquino. As of Thursday, the DOH said it had provided P3.2 million worth of drugs, medicines and manpower to Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon. Diseases As of October 6, acute respiratory infection, skin diseases, high blood pressure, fever, loose watery stool were the top leading causes of consultation in all evacuation centers. So far, no outbreaks and deaths from communicable diseases have been reported, the DOH said. Meanwhile, Education officials in Central Luzon are hoping to replace soonest several textbooks presumed destroyed by recent floods in the region. Department of Education Central Luzon regional head Teofila Villanueva said most of the damaged books are likely in Bulacan, radio dzBB's Glen Juego reported. Among the areas in Bulacan were damage was heaviest are Hagonoy, Calumpit, Malolos and Obando, the report said. Villanueva also cited reports reaching her that books may have also been ruined by floods in Pampanga, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija, the report added. Floods from Pedring and Quiel had forced many residents in Bulacan to flee their homes, but also stranded many others. The floods had started to subside only recently, after Quiel exited Philippine territory last Sunday night. — LBG, GMA News