Gardo moves away from Phl

Typhoon Gardo (international name Maria) started moving away from the country yesterday but will continue to induce monsoon rains in many parts of Luzon including Metro Manila in the next five days.

The typhoon-enhanced southwest monsoon has brought heavy rains in many provinces over the past days. A woman reportedly died in Ilocos Norte after drowning in an irrigation system.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), meanwhile, spotted a new “cloud cluster” east of Mindanao yesterday that could develop into a tropical cyclone.

PAGASA senior weather specialist Aldczar Aurelio said the

brewing cyclone east of the country is also expected to enhance the southwest monsoon.

He said monsoon rains would continue to affect Zambales, Bataan, Cavite, Batangas, Mindoro, Northern Palawan and Romblon.

Occasional rains will prevail over Metro Manila, Western Visayas and the rest of Central and Southern Luzon, according to Aurelio.

Gardo was forecast to exit the Philippine area of responsibility between last night and this morning.

As of 3 p.m., the eye of the typhoon was spotted at 585 kilometers northeast of Basco, Batanes with maximum sustained winds of 180 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 245 kph.

It was moving west-northwest toward Taiwan at a speed of 30 kph.

Aurelio said the public can expect improvement in weather conditions by Sunday.

5 dead

Meanwhile, the number of dead from the motorized boat that capsized in Camarines Sur the night before Gardo entered the Philippine area of responsibility has risen to five after the bodies of two missing children were recovered yesterday morning, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.

The PCG Public Information Office said three of the fatalities were children.

The casualties were identified as Gabriel Salabao, 3; Jonas Menorca, 6; Joshua Bejerano, 12; Liza Bonsay, 48; and Solidad Merilles, 58.

Case investigator Buhi Senior Police Officer 2 Emma Buen said the body of Bejerano was recovered by the PCG search and retrieval team off the waters of Barangay Ipil, Lake Buhi at about 7 a.m.

“The cadaver was entangled in a tilapia fish net inside the fish cage owned by a certain RJ Lleves,” Buen said.

The body of Menorca, on the other hand, was recovered in the barangay’s vicinity 30 minutes later, according to Buen.

The cadavers, which were already in an advanced state of decomposition, were immediately brought to a funeral parlor.

The nine other passengers who were on board the unnamed motorboat that capsized last Sunday survived the incident.

All the passengers and the lone boat operator are residents of Barangay Ipil, Lake Buhi, Camarines Sur.

Initial investigation showed that at 7 p.m. of July 8, the boat capsized in the vicinity of Barangay San Buena.

PCG personnel in substation Balatan on board its aluminum boat proceeded to the area and coordinated with the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office in Buhi for the conduct of a search and rescue operation near the barangay. –