Floodwaters spawned by typhoon “Pepeng” refused to recede in 232 out of 849 villages in 22 towns and five cities of Nueva Ecija, making search and relief operations a difficult task for personnel of local government units as well as the army and the police.

The effects of the gradual release of water from Pantabangan Dam are slowly being felt in places along the rim of the Pampanga River from as far as the towns of Jaen, Cabiao, and San Antonio, authorities said.

Reports coming from Bulacan also showed that although the rains have ceased, the Pampanga River from San Antonio in Nueva Ecija down to the Candaba Swamps continues to overflow, causing chaotic floodwaters to rise in many villages.

Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio M. Umali reported that 24 of the 27 towns and five cities of the province have been severely affected by the typhoons, and 150 out of 189 barangays remain under heavy volume of rainwater. Rescue and relief operations continue on a 24-hour basis.

At least five major road networks were reported either impassable to light vehicles or passable only to heavy vehicles. The La Paz, Tarlac floodway area has been under water, making “access to Zaragoza” town difficult.

Most passenger buses have cancelled travel along the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway as of morning of Saturday.

The floodway in Barangay San Vicente in Cabiao town along the Gapan-Olongapo Road at KM post No. 97+900 remains not passable to light vehicles.

The Nueva Ecija-Aurora Road in Barangay Lusok, Bongabon town in KM Post No. 138 to 139 was hardly passable to light vehicles.

The earthen dike between the towns of Aliaga and Quezon was reportedly breached, the 7-Up bridge in San Andres II washed out, while the Sta. Cruz bridge in Quezon town was destroyed causing massive flooding in the area reaching up to nearby Licab town.

Also, the Putlan, Carranglan stretch of the Cagayan highway in Kilometer post 193 was open only to one lane traffic due to “big volume of landslide and mudflow.”

However, joint teams of Army and highways and provincial engineering clearing crews have kept 24-hour watch over the roadblock site to ensure passage to the only corridor leading to and from the Cagayan Valley region.

An initial report from Abraham Pascua of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and co-chairman of the provincial disaster coordinating council, said 41,730.92 hectares of rice lands have been totally submerged in floodwaters for almost a week now.

A total of 28,786.15 hectares of standing crops ready for harvest and maturity are beyond recovery. At least 15,444.77 hectares may yet recover provided the floodwaters recede and the sun shines.

Based on field assessment conducted by the PDCC and provincial agriculture office under Serafin Santos, damaged were a total of 41,840 hectares of ricelands already ripe for harvest. Also ruined were 426 hectares of vegetable farms costing some P6.9 million.

Estimated damage to crop losses would amount to about P400 million.

Meanwhile, the use of some 21 units of jet skis have been reportedly turned over by Nueva Ecija Board Member Edmund Abesamis for rescue operations in the area of San Leonardo and Jaen towns.

Meanwhile, Eng. Antonio S. Nangel, operations manager of the National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Service (NIA-UPRIIS) reported Saturday the release of 400 cubic meters per second (cms) from the Pantabangan Dam, down from 600cms last Friday.

In Cabanatuan City, 55 out of 89 barangays remain under heavy floods.
In Calumpit, Bulacan, nine barangays remain under water as floods triggered by the overflowing of the Candaba Swamp and the Pampanga River began rushing into low lying areas in the town since early Saturday morning.

The Bulacan Provincial Disaster Management Office (PDMO) in Malolos City reported that some 196 families or 680 persons were evacuated to safer grounds as the flood waters from Pampanga and Nueva Ecija began descending to the low-lying barangays of Calumpit.

Provincial administrator Perlita Mendoza said the affected villages are Sapang Bayan (1 to 4 feet under water), Bulusan (1 to 5 feet), Sta. Lucia (1 to 4 feet), San Jose (1 to 2 feet), Gugo (1 to 4 feet), Meysulao (1 to 5 feet), San Miguel (along riverside 4 to 5 feet) and Frances (1 to 3 feet) and Gatbuka (2 to 5 feet).

Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza has deployed rescue teams of the Bulacan 566 Emergency Response Center in the town which, together with the neighboring town of Hagonoy, has become the perennial catch basin of floods from nearby provinces.

Bernie Bulaong, a senior officer at the PDMO, said that Angat Dam until Sunday is not yet releasing excess water. He said the dam can still accommodate the 214 meters because it has still a spilling buffer of 216 meters.