Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Tuesday vowed to take a proactive approach in announcing government work and class suspensions due to typhoons.
Remulla made this statement after receiving authorization from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to announce suspensions amid incoming weather disturbances.
“We gather all the information and we make a predictive model and the rain forecast model. Before it was only the path and the wind, but now we also include the rain forecast,” he said.
Remulla also highlighted a key lesson learned from Severe Tropical Storm Kristine: the importance of anticipating the depth and flow of expected rainfall.
“They did not anticipate that within 36 hours, 960 millimeters was dumped in Sorsogon. And that’s a record number. Remember, Ondoy was only 480 millimeters,” he added.
The DILG chief indicated that the weather bureau will be releasing guidelines more frequently. Four days before a typhoon’s arrival, the Office of Civil Defense, regional offices, and local government units will be notified of possible scenarios. “Our timeline now is four days before, because it can be seen on the weather map,” he said.
“When it’s 2,000 kilometers away from the Philippine area of responsibility, then we start tracking the storm and initiate the preemptive measures,” Remulla noted, emphasizing that this system has proven to be effective, as there were zero casualties recorded in Northern Luzon when a major storm hit twice in a row.
He also lauded the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) for its effective preemptive evacuation of residents in areas along the path of Severe Tropical Storm Nika.
Remulla highlighted the collaborative efforts of the OCD and other agencies, including the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Department of National Defense, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the DILG.
These organizations were tasked with executing a rapid response plan for three approaching storms: Nika, Ofel, and Pepito.
He noted that 50% to 60% of the homes belonging to the 8,000 families affected were destroyed by the rains and fallen trees. He emphasized that without the local officials’ insistence on proactive evacuation, there would have been significantly more casualties.
In response to reports regarding flooding in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, Remulla clarified that the flooding was not caused by the release of water from dams but rather resulted from water runoff from the mountains, triggered by Nika.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “DILG chief seeks to make class, work suspension notices a day earlier.”
