Wet mas in Visayas, Mindanao
It would be a rainy Christmas, at least in Visayas and Mindanao.
According to PAGASA, a low-pressure area is expected to bring occasional heavy rains over the whole Visayas and Mindanao, five days before Christmas.
The new weather system entered the Philippine area of responsibility at 2 a.m. on Thursday and was spotted an hour later at about 955 kilometers east of Hinatuan, Surigao Del Sur.
PAGASA weather specialist Ariel Rojas said rains from the LPA’s trough may unleash floods or landslides in the central and southern islands.
But the low pressure area is unlikely to intensify into a storm ahead of Christmas, PAGASA said.
Rojas said the northeast monsoon or amihan will bring cloudy skies with light rains over Cagayan Valley, the Cordilleras, Bicol region, Aurora and Quezon, while Metro Manila and the rest of the country will experience isolated rains.
Last year, the Christmas holidays were marred by back-to-back storms Urduja and Vinta spawned floods and landslides that killed 200 people.
Friday carmageddon: Gridlocks threatens
The Metro Manila Development Authority said traffic gridlocks await motorists the last Friday before Christmas Day.
“Last Friday na po ito ng holiday season. Nasa labas na po lahat ng tao n’yan, ‘yung mga huling hirit na shopping, Christmas party,” said MMDA general manager Jojo Garcia.
MMDA spokesperson Celine Pialago said traffic flow along EDSA on Friday’s afternoon rush hour could slow down to 12 kilometers per hour from the typical 19 kph.
Number coding scheme on hold
The Metro Manila Development Authority suspended the number coding scheme for provincial and private vehicles to ensure that there will be enough buses to ferry passengers to the provinces this holiday season.
The MDDA lifted the number coding scheme for provincial buses at least two days before Christmas and New Year, in anticipation of thousands of Filipino families to troop to the provinces to celebrate Christmas and New year.
Dec. 21—Lifted Coding (Provincial Buses); Dec. 22—Saturday (No Coding); Dec. 23—Sunday (No Coding); Dec. 24—Special (Non-Working) Day (No Coding); Provincial Buses lifted; Dec. 25—Regular Holiday (No Coding) ; Provincial Buses Lifted; December 26 – Lifted Number Coding Private and Provincial; Dec. 27—Lifted Number Coding Private and Provincial; Dec. 28 .
Coding; Private and Provincial; December 29—Saturday (No Coding); December 30—Sunday (No Coding); December 31—TBA (to be announced) for private; provincial bus lifted; January 1—Regular Holiday (No Coding); January 2—TBA (to be announced) for private; lifted for provincial buses.
Meanwhile, motorists using the tollways to and from south of Metro Manila may pass through the NAIA Expressway (NAIAx), Skyway System, the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and Star Tollway for free on the eves of Christmas and New Year.
Toll fees will not be collected from 10 p.m. of December 24, 2018 up to 6 a.m. the following day; and from 10 p.m. on December 31, 2018 up to 6 a.m. of January 1, 2019. Skyway O&M Corp. (SOMCO), Manila Toll Expressway Systems, Inc. (MATES), and Star Tollway Corp. (STC), the respective operators of NAIAX/the Skyway System, SLEX and the Star Tollway, extend this toll-free privilege to the south tollway-using motorists in appreciation for their patronage. It is also their way of wishing them a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
READ: Countdown to Christmas 2018