BY GLENDA TAYONA and IME SORNITO
ILOILO City – Classes in all levels in this city were suspended yesterday afternoon due to flooding and heavy monsoon (habagat) rains.
Mayor Jose Espinosa III issued the order around 3 p.m. on the recommendation of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.
He also allowed city government employees to go home early.
The southwest monsoon, enhanced by Tropical Depression “Henry”, brought more rains over Western Visayas and other parts of the country, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
The Philippine Coast Guard temporarily suspended yesterday the trips of motorboats plying the Iloilo City – Guimaras route and vice versa starting at 6 p.m.
It also cancelled trips of motorboats bound for Masbate province from Roxas City and those plying the Antique mainland – Caluya Island route.
Fast crafts bound for Bacolod City and roll on, roll off ships, however, were allowed to continue their operation because there was no gale warning, according to PCG Iloilo station commander Rodolfo Dela Peña.
The coastguard advised small fishermen not to venture out to sea.
There were no reported maritime incidents in Iloilo as of this writing but according to Dela Peña, the coastguard recorded occurrences of squall – a sudden strong wind which often causes a brief, violent rain storm.
On Monday night, the coastguard temporarily suspended for two hours (6 p.m. to 8 p.m.) the trips of motorboats bound for Guimaras from Iloilo City due to heavy rains and strong winds.
Some 800 people got stranded but by 8 p.m. they were able to cross the Iloilo Strait for Guimaras when the weather conditions improved.
Early on Monday, a motorboat capsized in the waters of Sibunag, Guimaras, according to the coastguard.
Sea Prince 2 skippered by Goiyon Noynoyan and companion Andrew de la Cruz, 32, was on its way to mainland Sibunag from Nauway Island around 8 a.m. when a squall hit it. A passing motorboat rescued the two fishermen.
According to Pagasa, there could be flooding and landslides due to light to moderate to at times heavy monsoon rains in Region 6, Metro Manila, Zambales, Bataan, Cavite, Batangas, Mindoro, and Palawan.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) issued a “blue alert” on Monday afternoon. It aimed to ensure the continuous monitoring of the prevailing weather system, said NDRRMC executive director Ricardo Jalad. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
