The weather bureau raised Public Storm Signal No. 1 Thursday over Batanes, Babuyan, and Calayan groups of islands after Tropical Storm “Kiko” (international name: Morakot) intensified into a typhoon as it continued to move towards Basco, Batanes.

As the same time, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) warned that occasional heavy rains will fall on the western provinces of Luzon and Visayas Friday until over the weekend.

In its tropical cyclone update as of 5 p.m. Thursday, PAGASA said the typhoon was spotted at about 450 km northeast of Basco, Batanes, with maximum sustained winds of 140 kph near the center and gustiness of 170 kph.

However, PAGASA administrator Prisco Nilo assured that the typhoon would not directly hit any part of the country if it continues to move towards Northern Taiwan at 22 kph.

“Kiko won’t directly hit any part of the country. But it will still enhance the southwest monsoon and bring rains especially to western parts of Luzon and the Visayas, including Metro Manila,” Nilo said in a radio interview.

“We can expect the monsoon rains until Saturday due to the enhanced southwest monsoon," the top weather official added.

Nilo said that the typhoon will dump more rains over Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Abra,  Benguet, Pangasinan, Dagupan, Tarlac, Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, Bataan, Metro Manila, Cavite, and Batangas.

He said “Kiko” will also indirectly affect the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental, advising residents in low- lying areas and near mountain slopes to take measures against possible flashfloods and landslides.

Meanwhile, the weather bureau said the rest of Visayas will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms while the remaining parts of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rains.

PAGASA said the seaboards of Northern Luzon and western seaboards of Central and Southern Luzon as well as Western Visayas will be rough to very rough with big waves as high as four to five meters because of 55 to 71 kph-strong winds.

It said the eastern seaboards of Central and Southern Luzon and the seaboards of Central and Eastern Visayas will also have rough to very rough seas with waves as high as four to five-and-a-half meters.

PAGASA said Mindanao will have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms, adding that the island will have rough to very rough seas with waves as big as three to four meters caused by winds with strength of 48 to 68 kph.

Typhoon “Kiko” is expected to be at 454 km north of Basco, Batanes, or 50 km south of Taipei, Taiwan this afternoon and reach 730 km northwest of Basco by Saturday afternoon.

Classes suspended due to heavy rains

Eight local governments in Metro Manila suspended afternoon classes in pre-school, elementary and high school levels Thursday due to heavy rains brought by Typhoon “Kiko” which was still in the vicinity of Basco, Batanes Thursday.

Mayors of the cities of Manila, Taguig, Pasay, Caloocan, Malabon, Valenzuela, Navotas and the municipality of Pateros announced the suspension around noon.

The Senate also decided to suspend its operations to allow its employees to go home early and avoid the heavy rains and floods in Metro Manila.

The Senate called off its work hours at 2 p.m. The Senate on Monday also decided to suspend all its legislative duties, including deliberations of pending measures in deference to the death of former President Corazon C. Aquino.

Manila Mayor Alfredo S. Lim ordered the suspension of classes in all public elementary and high schools, including the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) and City College of Manila (CCM).

The city government, however, left to administrators of the private schools in the city to decide on whether or not to suspend their classes.

Meanwhile, President Arroyo ordered Thursday the evacuation of more than 200,000 people affected by Typhoon “Kiko.”

She also mobilized the Department of Health (DoH) to guarantee that there will be no outbreak of diseases in the evacuation centers.

Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said security forces have been tasked to ensure that the typhoon victims in the affected 13 provinces and four cities will be evacuated smoothly.

He said the DoH’s surveillance will be intensified in the evacuation areas to guard against any possible outbreak of diseases.

Golez also said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has been alerted to ensure that the relief goods reach typhoon-stricken areas.

He said the Philippine Coast Guard is now monitoring any possible stranded passengers in areas affected by the typhoon.