BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN

The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Western Visayas is now undertaking preparations for the entry of a Low Pressure Area in the Philippine Area of Responsibility.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the LPA may intensify into a storm by Saturday, and could be locally named “Rosal.”
Arwin Razo, DSWD Field Office VI Assistant Regional Director for Operations, in a virtual meeting with Secretary Erwin Tulfo, reported that 48,735 family food packs amounting to P26.7 million, non-food items amounting to P28.8 million, and a P5 million standby quick response fund, are available in case the LPA affects the region.
PAGASA reported that the LPA, which is now in the vicinity of Surigao del Sur, will bring rains over wide area of the country.
While it is not yet a tropical cyclone, the LPA is already making itself felt in Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, where rain showers are being felt.
PAGASA forecasts that the LPA will move west northwest in the next 24 hours moving closer to the Caraga region and Eastern Visayas.*