22/08/2025
WATCH: As of afternoon Friday, evacuations are still underway in Guinobatan town, but Mayor Ann Gemma Ongjoco assured that the residents from the four zones in Masarawag town will be housed safely in Mauraro village.
Ongjoco said that they are expecting to evacuate 643 families to the Mauroro, which is about 20 kilometers from the flood-prone area. As of 11 a.m., only 72 families have been evacuated, but Ongjoco said that all residents from Puroks 4, 5, 6, and 8 of the village will be housed in Guinobatan Community College.
On Thursday, Albay Gov. Noel Rosal has ordered the pre-emptive evacuation in Masarawag upon the advisory of state meteorologists that the province will experience heavy rains due to the then low pressure area (LPA) and the southwest monsoon (habagat) that it was affecting.
On Friday morning, the LPA has strengthened into a tropical depression and was given the name “Isang.”
According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), will bring strong winds reaching gale force over Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, and the Burias Island in Masbate on Friday. These strong winds will persist Camarines Sur and Burias Island until Saturday.
Meanwhile, Ongjoco said that quarrying had nothing to do with the flooding experienced in the Masarawag village. After continues heavy rain on Aug. 13, the village experienced flash floods.
“The provincial government took drone shots of the area,” Ongjoco told BicoldotPH. “That was caused by nature. There are no quarrying activities up there.”
Ongjoco said that the directions of the lahar and the flash floods were diverted from its usual path. She, however, said that reassessments have to be made to understand what structures are necessary to mitigate the effects of flooding in the area.
“It needs to be studied again what kind of structure is needed there so that the residential areas will not be affected anymore,” she told BicoldotPH.
The mayor also said that Guinobatan needs help from the national government in solving the problem of flooding in Masarawag.
“If we put a flood control (project) there, it will entail millions of funds because if we look at the structures of flood control systems, they are built in gullies, and up there, there are no riverbeds that can be used as guides,” she said. “We really cannot determine where the water from Mayon will flow.”| Rey Anthony Ostria
