Ninety local residents were evacuated from their homes on Brgy. Pag-asa Island in Kalayaan town by their disaster risk reduction office to keep them safe from Vicky’s path when it exits Sunday afternoon in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Maurice Phillip Albayda, Kalayaan’s administrative officer, said Saturday that the residents were preemptively evacuated from where they live to the training center in the municipal hall building.
“Malakas ang hangin at maulan. We have already instructed the early evacuation this afternoon. As early as this morning, nag-ready na ang ating mga mamamayan,” Albayda told Palawan News.
Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) chief Abigail Ablaña, in a Facebook post, reminded the social workers to enforce social distancing at the evacuation centers as a minimum health protocol against COVID-19.
“Kindly be reminded of the health protocols to be strictly implemented in the evacuation centers. The quick response team (QRT) of PSWDO Palawan is up at the emergency operations center (EOC),” the Facebook statement read.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) in its latest bulletin estimated the tropical depression at 245 kilometers east southeast of Kalayaan Islands and will be at 225 km south-southwest the island, outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) by Sunday morning.
