Forced evacuation ordered in unreachable areas amid Marce — DND chief Teodoro

Local government units were ordered to implement forced evacuation of individuals living in areas that responders cannot reach in preparation for the impact of Typhoon Marce, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said on Tuesday.

“Ang mga municipal mayors at disaster risk reduction officers ay nire-require ng [Department of the Interior and Local Government]: Number one, na mag-forced evacuation sa mga lugar na hindi maaabot ng ating mga pwersa,” Teodoro said in a press conference.

(Municipal mayors and disaster risk reduction officers are required by the Department of the Interior and Local Government: Number one, to implement forced evacuation in areas that cannot be reached by our forces.)

“Normally ang ating kapulisan at ang armed forces ay nagbibigay ng saklolo. Ang hindi po maaabot ay pinag-eevacuate na po sa evacuation centers,” he added.

(Normally our police and the armed forces conduct rescue operations. Those who cannot be reached are ordered to go to evacuation centers.)

The mandatory evacuation aims to ensure an orderly and continuous provision of health benefit, water, sanitation, and food supplies to the residents that will be affected by Marce.

Teodoro made the statement after a meeting of the member agencies of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) in light of Marce.

Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) provided a list of areas prone to floods, landslides, and big waves.

“Yung mga listahan po ng mga barangay ngayon binibigay po namin 'yan dito po sa Office of Civil Defense para ma-distribute po nila ang information tungkol po sa likely scenario na tinatawag na kumbaga, posibleng mangyari dito po sa inyong mga pook ang landslide or flood,” she said.

(We are giving the lists of barangays to the Office of Civil Defense so that they can distribute the information about the possible landslide or flood in their areas.)

“Sana gamitin po ito ng mga local officials natin dito sa pagdesisyon ng preemptive evacuation po (I hope our local officials here will use it to decide on preemptive evacuation)," she added.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. said the military organization has prepositioned search, rescue, and retrieval (SRR) teams in Northern Luzon.

“Ngayon po sa area ng Northern Luzon, meron po tayong mga 305 na SRR teams na naka-deploy, ready na po silang tumulong sa ating mga kababayan kapag dumating po itong Bagyong Marce,” he said.

(Now in the area of Northern Luzon, we have about 305 SRR teams deployed and ready to help our countrymen when Typhoon Marce arrives.)

According to Brawner, C130 aircraft and Black Hawk choppers are available to transport relief goods and non-food items for possible victims of Marce.

Relief items are now being loaded to two Navy vessels in Subic, Zambales which will be delivered to Basco, Batanes, according to the AFP chief.

DSWD Undersecretary Diana Rose Cajipe said the agency has 1,351,815 family food packs.

“Right now, the total number of family food packs, through the predictive analytics tool ng DSWD, sa dadaanan ng Bagyong Marce is 300,000 ang nakahanda natin,” Cajipe said.

(Right now, the total number of family food packs, through the predictive analytics tool of the DSWD, in the path of Typhoon Marce, we have prepared 300,000.)

According to her, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian ordered the activation of a repacking station in Central Luzon to improve the number of stockpiles in the northern portion of the country.

In its 11 a.m. bulletin, PAGASA said 12 areas in Luzon are now under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1 as Marce intensified into a typhoon on Tuesday morning.

Marce was last spotted 590 kilometers east of Baler, Aurora moving west northwestward at 30 kilometers per hour (kph).

The typhoon was packing maximum sustained winds of 120 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 150 kph, it added.

Marce may make landfall in the vicinity of Babuyan Islands or over the northern portion of mainland Cagayan on Thursday evening or Friday early morning. 

Due to uncertainty in the strength of the high pressure area north of Marce, PAGASA said the forecast track may still change and bring the landfall point to the mainland Cagayan-Isabela area. 

“Marce is expected to continue intensifying and may reach its peak intensity prior to possible landfall over Babuyan Islands or Cagayan,” PAGASA said.—AOL, GMA Integrated News