Rain or shine, Tacloban visit to push through

MANILA, Philippines - The scheduled visit of Pope Francis to Tacloban City and Palo town in Leyte on Saturday to comfort the victims of Typhoon Yolanda will push through, rain or shine.

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II said yesterday it would require “extreme weather” before the pontiff would even think of cancelling his schedule since it was Yolanda’s destruction in Eastern Visayas that urged him to visit the country in the first place.

“The pope wanted to make this visit. I believe he would push through with his engagements with the Filipino people… I think it will really require extreme weather bago ma-postpone,” he said.

Tropical Storm Amang is threatening to dampen the papal visit in Leyte, where Pope Francis is scheduled to have lunch with the poor and Yolanda survivors.

Roxas, however, said the government is prepared for any eventuality.

Although the government has put in place security measures for the five-day visit, the final decision is still up to the pope.

Storm may spare Phl

The Philippines may be spared from the brunt of Tropical Storm Amang during Pope Francis’ visit as the weather disturbance has a slim chance of making landfall, state meteorologists said yesterday.

However, Vicente Malano, acting administrator of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said the tropical cyclone could still bring light to moderate rains over the eastern section of the country, including the areas to be visited by the pope.

PAGASA said the tropical depression, international name Mekkhala, intensified into a storm yesterday afternoon. It is expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility today and will be locally named Amang.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the center of Mekkhala was spotted at 1,365 kilometers east of the Visayas with maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 80 kph.

It was forecast to move west northwest at 19 kph.

Malano said there is a high probability that the cyclone will veer north toward Japan.

“We only expect light to moderate rains from the cyclone due to the possibility of recurvature and not making landfall,” Malano said in a text message to The STAR.

“The likelihood of not issuing storm warning signal is high,” he added.

PAGASA said the cyclone is predicted to weaken as it approaches the eastern seaboard due to the presence of the cold northeast monsoon.

Even if it is no longer expected to directly hit the Philippines, PAGASA weather forecaster Alvin Pura said Eastern Visayas and the Bicol region would still experience rains from the cyclone’s outer cloud band. – With Helen Flores, Evelyn Macairan