SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique — The Antique Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) went on heightened alert starting Monday morning as Tropical Storm Basyang is expected to affect the province by Wednesday.
Antique PDRRM Officer Broderick Train said with the heightened alert, their office is in 24-hour operation together with their municipal counterparts.
“Although we expect that by tomorrow we will already experience weather disturbance but we have to be prepared for by February 14 the situation might even become critical,” Train said.
He said this is based on the tracking of the national weather forecaster that “Basyang” has already entered the Philippine area of responsibility.
Along with other PDRRMC members, Train conducted a pre-disaster risk reduction and management meeting. “We need to know our capabilities just in case,” he said.
Those who attended the meeting were from the Department of Education for possible cancellation of classes, Philippine Coast Guard, Department of Interior and Local Government, Bureau of Fire Protection, and local DRRM officers.
Train also emphasized the monitoring of the road from Antique to Iloilo which is prone to landslides.
PDRRMC has also postponed to Feb. 21 the soft opening of the zipline at Padlusan Park in San Remigio to ensure that there will be no accident because of the weather disturbance.
(Annabel Consuelo Petinglay/PNA)