PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Three island towns in the Calamianes Group of Islands suspended classes in all levels Friday morning due to “moderate to heavy” rains caused by a low-pressure area (LPA) sighted in northern Palawan.
Palawan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) officer-in-charge Cruzalde Ablaña said Friday morning that classes had been suspended in the municipalities of Culion, Busuanga and Coron.
“No classes had been declared in these municipalities because of the on-and-off moderate to heavy rains caused by the LPA,” Ablaña told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
He said the PDRRMO and all Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Offices (MDRRMOs) in the three towns have been activated, and alerted about the possible effects of the LPA following warnings from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration’s (PAGASA) office in Palawan.
“We’re ready to provide support and respond to any case because of this low-pressure area. In fact, we’re not only ready in northern Palawan, we’re also ready in the southern part,” he added, saying minor floodings have been reported in the town of Rizal in southern Palawan as of Friday morning.
The suspension of classes in Coron was ordered by the municipal government led by Mayor Jerry Barracoso.
“We just want to make sure that the students are safe from any possible effect of this LPA. Class suspension will take effect this afternoon,” Barracoso said, adding that the depression is actually pulling Typhoon Paolo’s winds and rains to their town.
In its 4 a.m. advisory, PAGASA said the LPA was last recorded at about 135 km. west of Coron, bringing rains and thunderstorms all over Palawan.
Barracoso, however, said government offices remain open for transactions despite the weather condition, and tours will remain within Coron Bay as it remains safe.
“The waters in the bay of Coron is relatively calm so, sailing there is safe for our visitors,” he said.
Ablaña added that in the municipality of San Vicente, also in northern Palawan, the LPA had placed three major fishing communities under a state of calamity due to two weeks of recurrent heavy rainfall. These are barangays Caruray, Port Barton, and Poblacion.
“The Council will meet to discuss the help to be given to the affected residents,” MDRRMO Officer Edwin Oppus said in a phone interview.
Some 15,000 residents in the barangays’ inland and island sitios are affected by the rains brought by the LPA, which is intensified by the southwest monsoon or “habagat”.
Once declared under a state of calamity, the municipal government will be allowed under law to tap its quick response fund, which constitutes 30 percent of the town’s calamity fund. (With reports from Keith Anthony Fabro/PNA)
