LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — Tropical Storm Ramil, internationally known as Fengshen, prompted the evacuation of nearly 8,000 families across the Bicol Region as a precautionary measure, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Region 5 reported Saturday.
According to OCD-Bicol spokesperson Gremil Alexis Naz, preemptive evacuations were conducted in Albay, Catanduanes, and Masbate, affecting 7,777 families or 21,945 individuals across eight local government units. In Albay, 4,782 families, totaling 12,677 residents, were evacuated from the towns of Daraga (49 families), Guinobatan (2,184), Jovellar (2), Libon (54), Malilipot (2,442), and Pio Duran (51). In Catanduanes, 2,957 families, or 9,135 people, were moved from the municipality of Baras, while 38 families, or 133 individuals, were evacuated from Uson in Masbate. Naz said additional reports from other localities that conducted evacuations are still being compiled.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development provided aid to stranded individuals at various ports in the region. On Friday night, 180 passengers at Pio Duran Port and 350 at Tabaco Port received hot meals, with assistance totaling 34,650 pesos ($600) funded by the Catanduanes provincial government.
The Philippine Coast Guard-Bicol reported that 3,622 passengers, 1,072 rolling cargoes, and six roll-on/roll-off vessels remained stranded at ports in Pio Duran, Tabaco, Mobo (Masbate), Pasacao (Camarines Sur), and Matnog, Pilar, and Castilla (Sorsogon).
Ramil made landfall over Gubat, Sorsogon, at 4 p.m. Saturday, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. The storm is expected to move west-northwest over the Bicol Region’s landmass or coastal waters until early Sunday morning. It is then forecast to pass close to or over the Polillo Islands before making a final landfall in Aurora by Sunday morning or afternoon. The weather agency noted that landfall in northern Quezon or southern Isabela remains a possibility.
