Vessel rams, destroys 4 houses in Isabela City

 

A local shipping firm's commercial vessel rammed and destroyed four stilt houses and a motorboat in Isabela City, Basilan province, Friday morning amid inclement weather condition.

Uso Dan Salasim, Isabela City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) chief, said villagers managed to rescue an old sick lady from one of the four houses that were destroyed during the incident in Barangay Kaumpurnah Zone 1.

“It’s good that somebody managed to pull her out from one of the damaged houses that was about to be swept by strong current,” Salasim said.

Initial investigation showed the vessel, which came from this city, was on docking maneuver when it was swept by strong current towards the stilt houses at the shore of Barangay Kaumpurnah Zone 1, he said.

He said strong currents were observed in Malamawi channel since Thursday night due to inclement weather spawned by a Low Pressure Area (LPA) and Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).

In Friday's weather bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the Zamboanga Peninsula and other parts of the country will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms.

Possible flash floods or landslides during moderate to at times heavy rains may occur, according to PAGASA.

 

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Zambo City to open P14-M molecular lab

 

The City Health Office (CHO) is set to open the local government's own PHP14 million molecular testing center in Barangay San Roque here.

Dr. Dulce Amor Miravite, city health officer, said Thursday the molecular laboratory will be opened as soon as operations guidelines have been finalized and preparations are completed.

“We have already received our license to operate the molecular laboratory,” Miravite said. “There are logistics preparations that we are doing for the opening anytime in the coming week."

She said the city government-owned testing center can run 300 tests daily.

The molecular laboratory would be the sixth of such facilities to be established in the city as part of the local government’s response to the pandemic.

The other five molecular laboratories are operated by the government-run Zamboanga City Medical Center, the Philippine Red Cross, and private hospitals.