PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte remains in Mindanao, but would monitor and call shots as the government prepares for the onslaught of Typhoon Rolly.
Duterte’s former top aide and now Senator Bong Go said that the President is all set to return to Manila – provided the weather allows.
“Patuloy po ang monitoring namin ni Pangulo sa status ng bagyong ito. Sinisigurado ng Pangulo na laging handa ang mga ahensya na magbigay ng immediate assistance sa mga lugar na maapektuhan ng bagyo,” Go said during the Laging Handa briefing.
“Ngayon po nasa Mindanao po ang ating mahal na Pangulo. Naka-monitor po siya. Anytime naman po ‘yun pwedeng bumalik sa Manila kung papayagan ng magandang weather na po, kung makakalipad po ang eroplano,” the senator said.
“Rest assured po ang ating Pangulo ay nakatutok sa lahat ng ahensya ng gobyerno. Ang gusto niyang mangyari, tuwing may ganito, ay maibalik kaagad [o] ma-normalize kaagad ang sitwasyon,” he added.
As of this posting Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 4 has already been raised over Catanduanes and the eastern portion of Camarines Sur as typhoon Rolly maintained its strength, threatening to bring “destructive” winds and storm surges at least 3 meters high, PAGASA said Saturday evening.
In its 8 p.m. severe weather bulletin, the weather agency said specific areas affected in Camarines Sur were Siruma, Tinambac, Goa, Lagonoy, San Jose, Garchitorena, Presentacion, and Caramoan.
The center of Rolly is forecast to make landfall over Catanduanes on early Sunday morning and then pass over mainland Camarines Provinces on Sunday morning and over mainland Quezon on Sunday afternoon.
PAGASA said violent winds and intense rainfall may prevail over Catanduanes and the Camarines Provinces from Sunday morning to the afternoon and over Quezon from Sunday afternoon through evening.
At 7 p.m. on Saturday, the eye of the typhoon was located at 280 kilometers east northeast of Virac, Catanduanes with maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 165 kph.
It is moving west-southwestward at 20 kph. Rolly is forecast to exit the mainland Luzon landmass on early Monday.