THE National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) on Wednesday ordered its units in the areas that may be hit by Typhoon Mina to start setting up evacuation centers for some 40,000 people who are expected to be affected when the weather disturbance makes landfall on Friday.

“Priority areas are mountain slopes prone to landslides, flood-prone areas and coastline areas,” NDCC Deputy Director Anthony Golez said.

He said Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, NDCC chairman, has a standing order for the “forced evacuation,” if necessary, of residents who refuse to leave their homes.

In Albay, the NDCC said Gov. Joey Salceda has started putting up evacuation centers for residents who would be affected by the incoming typhoon.

“Itinawag ni Presidente sa atin iyan for us to make sure that in anticipation of the strong typhoon, those living in areas that may be affected by landslides, lahar flows and storm surges ma-evacuate na,” Golez said.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said it expects Typhoon Mina to develop into a super typhoon before it hits Virac, Catanduanes, this weekend.

The NDCC also said Typhoon Lando affected a total of 16, 463 persons. It also left nine people dead and five injured.

The Cebu City council, which declared a state of calamity in the city on Tuesday afternoon, authorized the release of P37.5 million in emergency funds to buy heavy equipment and repair damage caused by Typhoon Lando.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña also ordered city building officials to inspect advertising billboards all over the city and, if possible, demolish those built by contractors who also built the billboards that collapsed on Monday.

“[We will] presume they also used substandard materials in their other billboards,” he said.

Several billboards fell on power lines, plunging most of Metro Cebu into darkness until late night on Monday. No serious injuries were reported, however.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the city, however, said a joint inspection report early this year already identified several billboards as unsafe, especially in times of strong winds.

DPWH Cebu City District Engineer Nicomedes Leonor told BusinessMirror that the joint team composed of city engineers, advertisers and public- works officials conducted the inspection after Typhoon Milenyo downed several billboards in Metro Manila, killing several people.

“We had some recommendations in that report to be implemented by the city building official,” Leonor said.

The Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP) Cebu chapter president, Mary Ann Alcordo-Solomon, said only 14 companies, representing around half of the total billboards in Metro Cebu, belong to their group.

Although she could not speak in behalf of the others, she said OAAP members strictly comply with regulations on outside billboards. The members also help each other take their billboards down amid strong winds.

Also, the Cebu City government approved the purchase of three bulldozers, a backhoe, 10 chainsaws, five mud pumps, motorcycles, communication equipment and the construction of mini dams in upstream rivers. (With W. Rodolfo and J. Mayuga)

THE National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) on Wednesday ordered its units in the areas that may be hit by Typhoon Mina to start setting up evacuation centers for some 40,000 people who are expected to be affected when the weather disturbance makes landfall on Friday.

THE Supreme Court (SC) has stopped the Sandiganbayan from implementing its resolution ordering the Philippine National Bank (PNB) to turn over the proceeds of a $4.4-million letter of credit (LOC) subject of an ill-gotten-wealth lawsuit against businessman Vicente Chuidian and the Marcos family.

AN official of the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) on Tuesday said that the commission is seriously considering the reimposition of the cap on tuition increases at the end of the year.

THE bombing of the House of Representatives on November 13 was only among the plans of a group out to kill the late Liberal Party Rep. Wahab Akbar of Basilan, police said on Wednesday.

SEN. Panfilo Lacson implicated Wednesday businessman Reghis Romero II, a known ally of former President Fidel Ramos, in the alleged Palace payoffs or “cash gifts” doled out to governors and congressmen after separate meetings with President Arroyo in Malacañang last October 11.

REFORMS and system improvements that are part of Phase 2 of the National Roads Improvement and Management Program (NRIMP) will be implemented despite the deferment of discussions for a loan to fund the project by the World Bank owing to corruption.

A PROPOSED ocean-fertilization project to help increase fish stock and mitigate climate change in the Sulu Sea will likely be shelved unless the project’s proponent can show it will not harm the environment.