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Monday, June 26, 2006
Arroyo alerts disaster agencies for Mt. Bulusan eruption
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Sunday ordered the preparations of contingency measures in case Mt. Bulusan erupts while she is abroad.
Arroyo, in her pre-departure speech after meeting with disaster officials at the Centennial Terminal, said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the area have shifted from "counter-communist-terrorist operations" to "disaster and relief" mode.
She said volcanologists have ruled out a magma-driven eruption in the next few days.
The contingency measures that Arroyo ordered are:
* A "Bulusan express" which is composed of two C-130s, eight helicopters including the Presidential helicopter, and a train filled with relief goods to be transported from Manila to Bicol;
* The sending by the Presidential Security Group (PSG) of a medical contingent to the area;
* Rice stockpiling by the National Food Authority (NFA);
* Donation of used clothing from an "ukay-ukay" shipment recently seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC);
* Making available of calamity funds by Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr., who is Cabinet Officer for Regional Development (Cord) for Bicol region; and
* Granting by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Pag-IBIG of emergency loans to residents in the Bulusan area.
Glenn Rabonza, executive director of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), said the preparations are focused on six barangays outside the four-kilometer permanent danger zone around Mt. Bulusan. The barangays, with a population of 5,800, are located in Irosin, Juban, Casiguran and Bulusan towns.
Rabonza said the contingency measures will be implemented once Alert Level 3 (High probability of explosive eruption likely within days or weeks) is raised by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
He said Mt. Bulusan is under Alert Level 2 (probable eruption in months or weeks). "It is unlikely that Alert Level 3 would be raised in the next few days but as contingency, (we are) ready to respond to Alert Level 3, 4 and 5," he added.
He said once Alert Level 3 is up, disaster officials will implement "Phase 2" which covers 34 additional barangays located within eight kilometers from the summit. The 40 barangays would have a population of 56,000.
Rabonza said local officials have been warned by Phivolcs on what areas would be affected by lahar, flashfloods, and pyroclastic explosions.
Bartolome Bautista, Phivolcs deputy director, said there are no precursors of an immediate eruption and that what could be expected are steam-driven explosions confined to the summit due to the rains coming in contact with magma-heated rocks and water.
Science and Technology Undersecretary Graciano Yumul said the weather bureau is tracking tropical depression Domeng, which was initially expected to hit the Bicol region and Aurora and Quezon provinces but changed direction last Saturday night and headed for Leyte, Marinduque, and Mindoro island. It has hit Leyte. "If the storm triggers the southwest monsoon, we will have a double headache - rains from the tropical depression and from the monsoon," Yumul said.
He said warnings against floods and landslides have been issued in Leyte because the land in the area is still "saturated" with rainfall due to typhoon Caloy. "Flooding and landsliding right now is a distinct possibility," he said.
He said the weather bureau is studying the "very strange" weather, particularly the development of the southwest monsoon ("Habagat"). He said the southwest monsoon is "very erratic" because it is not yet developed in the Philippines. "In theory, it (monsoon) should be developed right now. The flooding in Indonesia last week was caused by the inter-tropical convergence zone but it should be in the Visayas now. But it is still in Indonesia. Very strange," he said.
Yumul said India and China are experiencing floods and landslides because of the southwest monsoon, which they should be experiencing in July, not in May and June.
"Right now it's very strange. Our southwest monsoon right now should be well developed. Our thunderstorms right now should be caused by southwest monsoon. We expect it to be here June-July," he said.
He said climatological projections are that the rainy season would be "relatively dry" because the southwest monsoon is not well developed," he added. (JMR/Sunnex)
(June 26, 2006 issue)
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