Rains to continue in C. Luzon

MANILA, Philippines - The southwest monsoon enhanced by Typhoon Jose (international name Halong) will continue to bring moderate to occasionally heavy rains over the Ilocos region and some parts of Central Luzon until the weekend.

Jose – the 10th and the strongest cyclone to enter the country so far this year – was forecast to exit the Philippine area of responsibility this morning.

Alvin Pura, weather forecaster of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said Jose maintained its strength yesterday as it moved north toward Southern Japan.

Pura said Metro Manila can expect fair weather until the weekend, aside from isolated thunderstorms.

However, he said the Ilocos region and the provinces of Zambales and Bataan will still experience moderate to occasionally heavy rains due to the southwest monsoon.

Pura warned residents of Zambales, Pangasinan and Bataan to remain alert against possible occurrence of landslides as the soil is now saturated due to continuous heavy rains in the past several days.

The rest of Luzon will have occasional rains while the Visayas and Mindanao will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the eye of Jose was spotted at 860 kilometers east northeast of Itbayat, Batanes, packing winds of 150 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 185 kph.

It was forecast to move northward at 15 kph.

PAGASA also continued to advise fishermen to avoid the coastal waters of Luzon due to huge waves generated by Jose and the southwest monsoon.

Pura said aside from Jose, the agency has not spotted any weather disturbance that may enter the country in the next few days.

PAGASA data, however, showed that three to four cyclones are likely to enter the Philippine area of responsibility in August.

Jose is the first cyclone to enter the country this month. The next cyclone will be named Katring.

2 missing

Meanwhile, two minors went missing in Bautista, Pangasinan as Jose hit the northern part of the country, a disaster management official said yesterday.

Kristian Tabisaura, operations center chief of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Ilocos, said the two went missing after jumping into the Agno River in Barangay Diaz last Tuesday.

The missing were identified as Rodmel Javillonar, 15, and Ronald Perez, 14.

“Right now, the PDRRMC (Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council) and the Coast Guard-Sual are conducting search and rescue operations,” Tabisaura said.

Pangasinan is one of the provinces affected by Jose.

Four barangays in Calasiao town, namely Talibaew, San Vicente, Lumbang and Longos, experienced floods due to heavy rains.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said seven barangays in Zambales are still flooded due to the typhoon.

The flood-hit barangays are Beddeng, Libertad and La Paz all in San Narciso; Apostol, Feria and Rosete all in San Felipe, and Pundakit in San Antonio. – With Alexis Romero