Philippine capital region under state of calamity due to Typhoon Gaemi

July 25, 2024

MANILA – The Metro Manila Council (MMC) on Wednesday approved a resolution declaring a state of calamity in the capital region due to the onslaught of Typhoon Carina and the southwest monsoon.

It enables the release of calamity funds for 16 cities and one municipality in Metro Manila and allows the implementation of price control in the region.

The resolution was approved during the MMC meeting at the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) headquarters in Pasig City on Wednesday afternoon.

Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. and MMC chairman and San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora presided over the council meeting.

“There is a motion to declare Metro Manila under the state of calamity by Mayor Francis Zamora and [MMDA] Chairman Don [Artes],” Abalos said.

“The motion is now approved. Metro Manila is now under the state of calamity,” he added.

In a separate meeting on Wednesday morning, Abalos recommended the declaration of a state of calamity in Metro Manila to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“Because of what is happening, Mr. President, especially in Metro Manila, our recommendation here is that maybe we can declare a state of calamity in Metro Manila,” Abalos told Marcos, speaking partly in Filipino, during the briefer on the country’s current status amid the effects of the typhoon and the southwest monsoon.

Under Republic Act No. 10121, or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, a state of calamity is declared during “a condition involving mass casualty and/or major damage to property, disruption of means of livelihood, roads, and normal way of life of people in the affected areas, as a result of the occurrence of natural or human-induced hazard.”

Many parts of Metro Manila have been flooded since Tuesday due to the heavy rains brought by Carina and the southwest monsoon.

Several roads were also left impassable.

As of 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, Carina was last spotted 345 kilometers north-northeast of Itbayat, Batanes, packing maximum sustained winds of 165 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gusts of up to 205 kph, the state weather bureau said.

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