ILOILO City – The Department of Tourism (DOT) Region 6 advised incoming and outgoing tourists and partner tourism stakeholders to take precautions for the second typhoon to possibly enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR).
Director Crisanta Marlene Rodriguez yesterday issued a travel advisory.
“In view of the recent update on Super Typhoon ‘Betty’ (international name: ‘Mawar’) that is expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility in the next few days, all incoming and outgoing tourists and partner tourism stakeholders are advised to take precautionary measures and properly coordinate with the destination’s local government units and tourism offices,” read part of the advisory.
DOT-6 encouraged tourists to monitor the weather and coordinate with their hotels, resorts, and airline, ferry and land transport companies to avoid inconvenience during travel.
Tourists were also advised in case of emergencies to message the DOT-6 Facebook page and scan the QR code that provides emergency contact information for their respective provinces or cities.
As of 3 p.m. yesterday, Super Typhoon “Mawar” was forecast to accelerate its tracking generally west-northwestward in the next 12 hours before turning westward, according to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Region 6.
It may enter the PAR on Friday evening or Saturday morning.
The forecast confidence cone and the slightly southward shift in the model solutions suggest that the potential for a much closer approach to the country than the ones shown by the center track is not ruled out.
The super typhoon may reach a peak intensity of 215 kilometers per hour by Sunday.
Also on Sunday, light to moderate rains (up to 25 millimeters (mm) are expected over Zamboanga Peninsula, BARMM, SOCCKSARGEN, Northern Mindanao, Western Visayas, and Occidental Mindoro due to a southwesterly monsoon and over Batanes, Cagayan, and Apayao due to rainbands of the super typhoon.
And, on Monday, May 29, heavy rains (50 to 100 mm) are expected over the Zamboanga Peninsula, BARMM, Western Visayas, Palawan, Zambales, Bataan, and Mindoro Occidental./PN
