Mrs. Arroyo made the announcement in a meeting with members of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

Storm "Florita" left the country yesterday and headed to Taiwan, leaving at least eight people dead, six missing, and thousands more displaced.

A total of 13 people were injured while six, including three children, remain missing in the wake of storm "Florita" which lashed Luzon with winds and rain early this week, causing floods and landslides in many provinces, government authorities reported yesterday.

Heavy rains are still expected in the country today, especially in the northern parts of the country, as Florita headed towards Taiwan yesterday afternoon.

Heavy rains and strong winds on Thursday prompted the government to cancel classes in all levels in Regions 1, 2, 3, and 4, and in Metro Manila and the Cordillera Administrative Region.

In Ilocos Sur, a man drowned while another was hit by lightning during heavy rains which flooded at least six towns, Provincial Social Welfare Development Officer Ferdinand Concepcion said.

Concepcion identified the casualties as Marcelino Gamer of Barangay Patpata, Candon City, and Donald Bongolan, 30, of Barangay Mambug, Santiago.

Gasmer reportedly drowned while Bongolan was hit by lightning last Wednesday.

Concepcion said reported missing were Norberto Biduya and Marlon Corpuz of Barangay Villahermoza, Sta. Cruz, and Ruben Vizcarra of Barangay Cacaldingan, Narvacan.

In Olongapo City, four people were killed the other days as strong winds knocked down a tree, crushing a their shanty in Barangay Cabalan.

The victims, 43-year old Tessie Villegas, her children four-year old Gilbert, and two-year old twins Jobert and Jeric, were pronounced dead-on-arrival at the James L. Gordon Memorial Hospital.

Villegas’s husband Sonny Sulano and another daughter Angelica survived with minor injuries.

The local government of Olongapo has provided financial assistance to the family and one of its members has been recommended for livelihood assistance.

Meanwhile, authorities in Baguio reported that Perfecto Gaarlan, 54, died from injuries suffered after a landslide buried their residence in Sto. Rosario late Tuesday afternoon.

The victim’s brother, Camilo Gaarlan, 45, also suffered injuries during the landslide and was brought to the Baguio General Hospital for treatment.

Also injured were Osios Balbawang Sr., 31, his wife Jonalyn, 21, and their children Oscar, 6, and 11month-old Olivia who survived a landslide that buried their home in San Carlos Heights in Irisan. Another child, four-yearold Osios Balbawang Jr. remains missing.

The Baguio City disaster coordinating council said that two other children remain missing after the passage of Florita. They were identified as Grace L. Benito, 7, a pupil of the Dona Nicasia Elementary school in Aurora Hill and Princess Separa, 7, a pupil of Rizal elementary school in Pacdal.

In Tanay, Rizal, a farmer died while he was buried by tons of garbage while trying to rescue his animals and plantation at the height of a heavy downpour wrought by Tropical Storm Florita.

Senior Supt. Freddie Panen, Rizal Provincial Director identified the victim as Eduardo Tenedero, of Sitio Bukal, Barangay Tandang Cutyo, Tanay, Rizal.

In Antipolo City, a woman was seriously injured after she was nearly buried alive when their kitchen wall collapsed Wednesday night.

Josephine Agaun is now undergoing treatment in a hospital because of difficulty in breathing.

In Ilocos Sur, six barangays in Sta. Cruz town, one in Santiago, and two in Narvacan were flooded. Some parts of Sta. Maria, Candon city and Tagudin also experienced flooding.

Concepcion said that members of the provincial disaster coordinating council headed by Ilocos Sur Governor Luis Chavit Singson are presently distributing relief goods to the victims.

Baguio City and the nearby province of Benguet suffered close to R200 million worth of damage to private and public properties from landslides and floods caused by six days of continuous rains triggered by Florita.

The Baguio city disaster coordinating council estimated that P183 million worth of damage was caused by the rains.

This prompted the city council to declare a state of calamity so that the city government could immediately use R36.5 million in calamity fund for rescue and clearing operations.

The Disaster Response Operation Monitoring and Information Center (DROMIC) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported that some 2,555 families have been affected by the storm in four provinces and 14 municipalities.

DROMIC said 48 houses were damaged by ‘Florita’ and 94 families or 472 persons are now seeking refuge in their friends’ or relatives’ houses.

The families were evacuated to safer grounds or given emergency food by the disaster coordinating councils.

There were at least 29 landslides, four flooding incidents, 30 fallen trees and seven fallen electric poles reported to the Baguio disaster coordinating council over the past three days.

The DWSD has released a total of P54,236 as augmentation to local government expenses of more than P80,000 pesos relating to the disaster.

BCDA clears road mudslide in record time

Heavy rains spawned by tropical storm "Florita" triggered a landslide that closed a portion of the Olongapo- Gapan Highway in Bataan to all traffic Wednesday night, but it was cleared in record time by a multi-sectoral team led by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

BCDA’s Subic-Clark- Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) Program Manager for Administration and Head of the Rescue and Evacuation Group Trifonio Salazar said a call was received by the BCDA Disaster Preparedness Operations Center from the local government of Dinalupihan about the landslide that occurred around 9 p.m. of Wednesday.

He said the landslide blocked the highway to all vehicles, resulting in heavy traffic in the area.

Salazar said the BCDA Operations Center quickly dispatched a bulldozer from Japanese construction firm Obayashi Corporation to clear the landslide.

Obayashi Corporation is currently building the Subic-Clark section of the SCTEx and is a member of the BCDA-led Disaster Preparedness Group.

He said by 11 p.m. the landslide was cleared and the highway resumed normal operations.

Salazar commended the quick response of the Disaster Preparedness Group, which was created as part of BCDA’s corporate social responsibility program to help residents in the municipalities along its flagship project – the 93.7 km SCTEx.

Meanwhile, as heavy rains and occasional strong winds continued to batter Abra yesterday afternoon, the contractor of the almost one-billion-peso Calaba Bridge here appears to be one of the the biggest casualties of the storm.

Massive mudslides hit the Abra- Kalinga and Abra-Ilocos Norte national roads as well as provincial roads leading to the hinterland towns.

Reports received by the Action Center said that rampaging floodwaters submerged one of the three cranes being used by the Pajara Construction in building the bridge’s substructure consisting of two abutments and 14 piers.

Also, a vibrator placed on top of the bridge’s column constructed by the contractor for months was carried away by strong current.

Gov. Vicente P. Valera, PDCC chairperson, had to cancel work in government and private offices, as well as classes on all levels last Wednesday afternoon, due to the strong rain. (with a report by Jack Turqueza)