Flood, landslide warnings persist as rains continue to batter S. Luzon, VisMin

Published January 12, 2023, 7:58 AM

by Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz

(SATELLITE IMAGE / PAGASA WEBSITE)

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) warned against flooding in low-lying areas and landslides in mountainous areas due to the prevalence of three rain-inducing weather systems—the low pressure area (LPA), shear line, and northeast monsoon

The LPA was last spotted 380 kilometers east of Surigao City, Surigao del Norte at around 3 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 12. 

Although the LPA has a slim chance of developing into a tropical depression in 24 hours, PAGASA said the combined effect of the LPA and shear line—a weather system brought about by the convergence of cold and warm air masses—may cause scattered to widespread rains and thunderstorms over Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Negros Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Norte, and Dinagat Islands.

Those in these areas were warned against floods or landslides during moderate to intense rains.

Cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms may also affect Bicol Region, Romblon, and the rest of Visayas and Mindanao.

Flash floods or landslides during moderate to heavy rains are also possible in these areas.

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Furthermore, PAGASA said the northeast monsoon, locally called “amihan,” may bring cloudy and rainy weather in the Cagayan Valley, Aurora, Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, and Palawan.

The rest of Luzon, including Metro Manila, may experience partly cloudy to cloudy weather with light amihan rains.

Rainy weekend ahead

PAGASA weather specialist Benison Estareja said the LPA and shear line may continue to dampen parts of the country until the weekend.

By Friday, PAGASA expects the LPA to bring rains over a large portion of Visayas and Mindanao as the weather disturbance remains almost stationary near Caraga and Eastern Visayas.

Estareja said that rains will be more concentrated in Southern Luzon and Visayas as the LPA approaches these areas by weekend. 

Meanwhile, cloudy skies and light to moderate rains due to the shear line may prevail over Metro Manila by Friday.

“Over the weekend, expect more rains due to the close approach of the LPA. The trough or extension of the LPA, along with the shear line, may cause flooding in large parts of Metro Manila and nearby areas in Central Luzon and Calabarzon,” Estareja warned.

Ban on Luzon, M’nao poultry extended

By Glenda Tayona, Panay News

ILOILO City – The city government extended its ban on live poultry, poultry products and byproducts from Luzon and Mindanao.

The Avian Influenza or bird flu outbreak there has not abated, according to Mayor Jerry Treñas in Executive Order (EO) No. 043-2022 extending the ban for 30 more days effective immediately.

The ban would protect Iloilo’s poultry industry and shield the Ilonggos from “the unknown risks that this outbreak may cause the consuming public,” the EO read.

Avian Influenza is a highly contagious viral disease caused by any Influenza A virus affecting several species of food-producing birds (chickens, turkeys, quails, guinea row,. etc.). as well as pet birds and wild birds.

The temporary ban is imposed on the following:

* all live birds (poultry and non-poultry) including day-old chicks, pullets, hatching eggs, ready-to-lay pullets, semen, fresh egg, embryonated eggs, manure, ducks and quails and other poultry products and byproducts from Luzon and Mindanao

* pigeons for racing, flying, training, brooding and other related activities originating from Luzon and Mindanao, and those which have traveled thereto and intending to return to Iloilo City

* gamefowls from Luzon and Mindanao and those which have traveled thereto and intending to return to Iloilo City

The EO, however, allows the transshipment of imported day-old chicks, day-old pullets, hatching eggs as well as gamefowls from International airports and seaports to Iloilo City.

The transport of poultry meat from Luzon and Mindanao to Iloilo City shall be allowed only if the shipment is accompanied by a Meat Inspection Certificate (MIC) for domestic meat products or Certificate of Meat Inspection (COMI) for imported meat products.

MIC or COMI will be issued by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) along with the Shipping Permit issued by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).

Strict implementation of quarantine inspections shall also be imposed in all ports of entry – land, sea, or air – in Iloilo City.

Treñas tasked the City Veterinary Office, in coordination with the Department of Agriculture Region 6’s Regulatory Division and the BAI – Regional Veterinary Quarantine Service 6, to inspect the regulatory requirements of all incoming poultry and poultry products.

In May, after more than a month of ban, the city government through a previously issued executive order opened its borders to eggs and day-old chicks from areas not affected by the Avian Influenza or bird flu to help poultry farmers.

But seeing the impending threat again following new confirmed cases of bird flu in the provinces of Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Laguna, Benguet, North Cotabato, South Colabato, Maguindanao, and Isabela from April 30 to June 10, the city government opted to close its border again./PN

Unbekannte Vorfahren auf den Philippinen

Unbekannter Vorfahre

Neue Frühmenschen-Art entdeckt

Öberzähne von Homo luzonensis CCH6.

(Foto: Callao Cave Archaeology Project/dpa)

Es gibt einen Neuling im menschlichen Stammbaum: Auf einer philippinischen Insel werden Knochen gefunden, die einer bisher unbekannten Frühmenschenart gehören. Nach seinem Fundort Luzon wird sie Homo luzonensis genannt.

Die Menschheit ist um eine Art reicher: Homo luzonensis heißt ihr neu beschriebener Vertreter. Überreste des Frühmenschen waren auf der philippinischen Insel Luzon in der Callao-Höhle entdeckt worden. Die Zähne und Knochen weisen sowohl Merkmale des modernen Menschen Homo sapiens als auch des Vormenschen Australopithecus auf, berichten Forscher in der Fachzeitschrift "Nature".

Callao-Höhle auf Luzon - hier wurden die Fossilien des Homo luzonensis entdeckt.

(Foto: Callao Cave Archaeology Project/dpa)

Im Jahr 2010 hatte die Gruppe um Florent Détroit vom Nationalen Museum für Naturgeschichte in Paris und Armand Salvador Mijares von der University of the Philippines in Quezon City einen Mittelfußknochen aus der Höhle wissenschaftlich beschrieben. Hinzu kamen weitere Funde in derselben geologischen Schicht: Fuß- und Fingerknochen, ein unvollständiger Oberschenkelknochen und Backenzähne. Die Anthropologen gehen von mindestens drei Individuen aus. Mit der sogenannten Uran-Thorium-Methode wurde das Alter einer zusammengehörenden Reihe von Backenzähnen auf ein Alter von mindestens 50.000 Jahren bestimmt.

Die Größe und die Kauflächen der Zähne weisen Ähnlichkeiten mit dem Neandertaler (Homo neanderthalensis) und dem modernen Menschen auf. Der Übergang vom Zahnschmelz zum Zahnbein und die Zahnwurzeln ähneln hingegen eher den Vormenschen Australopithecus und Paranthropus. Auch die Fuß- und Fingerknochen sehen wie die von Vormenschen aus: Sie sind viel stärker gebogen als bei modernen Menschen.

Knochen und Zähne erinnern an Homo floresiensis

Gebogener Fußknochen des Homo luzonensis CCH4.

(Foto: Callao Cave Archaeology Project/dpa)

Insgesamt sind die Knochen und Zähne verhältnismäßig klein und erinnern deshalb an eine andere Menschenart, die 2003 auf der indonesischen Insel Flores entdeckt wurde: Homo floresiensis. Sie wirkte gegenüber den zur gleichen Zeit lebenden Menschenarten wie Homo neanderthalensis und Homo sapiens zwergenhaft. Manchmal wird Homo floresiensis darum auch "Hobbit" genannt. Die Eigenständigkeit der Art ist bis heute umstritten.

In einem Kommentar in "Nature" nennt Matthew Tocheri von der Lakehead University in Thunder Bay (Ontario, Kanada) den Fund eine "bemerkenswerte Entdeckung eines menschlichen Verwandten, die in den kommenden Wochen, Monaten und Jahren zweifellos viele wissenschaftliche Diskussionen auslösen wird". Tocheri mutmaßt, dass Homo floresiensis und Homo luzonensis beide Nachkommen von Homo erectus sein könnten, die sich auf ihren jeweiligen Inseln über Hunderttausende von Jahren getrennt entwickelt haben.

Insellage Grund für eigenartige Entwicklung

*Datenschutz

Auch Faysal Bibi vom Naturkundemuseum in Berlin vermutet in der Isolation durch die Insellage den Grund für die eigenartige Entwicklung von Homo luzonensis. "Wären die Knochen auf dem Festland gefunden worden, wäre das für die Wissenschaftsgemeinde ein Schock." Bibi verweist auf zahlreiche endemische Arten von Säugetieren auf Inseln, die schon vor Hunderttausenden von Jahren vom Festland getrennt waren. Sie weisen oft das Phänomen der sogenannten Inselverzwergung auf: Die Körpergröße nimmt über Generationen hinweg deutlich ab. Endemisch werden Arten genannt, wenn sie nur in überschaubaren, abgegrenzten Regionen auf der Erde vorkommen.

Jean-Jacques Hublin vom Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie in Leipzig hält einen eigenen Artnamen für den entdeckten Frühmenschen für berechtigt: "Die Knochen und Zähne dieser Menschen unterscheiden sich vom allem, was wir kennen." Ihn wundert auch nicht, dass sich die Entwicklung der Gattung Homo durch neuere Funde immer vielfältiger darstellt: In 1,5 Millionen Jahren hätten die Nachkommen des Homo erectus eine viel größere Diversität entwickelt als der Homo sapiens in den letzten etwa 100.000 Jahren, nachdem er Afrika verlassen hatte.

Batanes under Signal No. 4 as 'Ferdie" Intensifies

By: Frances Mangosing, Philippine Daily Inquirer

This satellite image from Pagasa shows the location of Typhoon Ferdie as of 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Batanes was placed under Signal No. 3 as Typhoon “Ferdie” (international name: Meranti) intensified and posed a threat over extreme northern Luzon on Tuesday.

The typhoon packed maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center, up from 195 kph and gusts of up to 250 kph, up from 230 kph, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

Signal No. 2 was raised in Northern Cagayan and Babuyan Group of Islands, while Signal No. 1 was raised over the rest of Cagayan, northern Isabela, Kalinga, Apayao, Abra and Ilocos Norte.

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Ferdie was last tracked 510 kilometers east of Calayan in Cagayan and was moving west northwest at 22 kph.

“Residents in Northern Luzon are advised to take precautionary measures against impacts of very strong winds and heavy rainfall,” Pagasa said.

By Wednesday, Ferdie is forecast over the vicinity of Basco, Batanes and by Thursday morning, it will be 345 kilometers west northwest of Itbayat in Batanes, or outside the Philippine area of responsibility.

Moderate to heavy rains are expected within the 500 kilometer-diameter of the typhoon.

Cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and isolated thunderstorms are expected over Northern Mindanao, Visayas and the rest of Luzon, Pagasa said.

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms will prevail over the rest of Mindanao.

In its 7:30 a.m. update, Pagasa said a thunderstorm is affected Bataan, Zambales, Cavite and Batangas. Laguna and Quezon may experience the same in the next two hours, while Metro Manila may get light to moderate showers. IDL

Bad Weather in The Philippines

A friend of mine, living in the U.S., emailed me this morning and asked, if it is true, that Mindanao is expecting another taifun.

An active low pressure area will bring widespread rains over Visayas and Eastern Mindanao, according to the Philippine Atmosphere, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). And, I must confess, while writing this piece, it's starting again raining here in Davao City.

PAGASA, in its weather synopsis, said that the ALPA was estimated based on satellite and surfaced data at 350 kilometers east of Southern Mindanao. The APLA is now diminishing its chances to become a tropical cyclone as it approaches land. 

For its wind and sea alert, the weather bureau said moderate to strong winds blowing from the east  will prevail over Luzon and coming from the east to northeast over Visayas and Mindanao. 

Guys, where ever you are located, please be safe.