PAGASA warns: Don’t swim
THE Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has issued an advisory against swimming along the coast due to the dangers brought about by the amihan (northeast monsoon wind).
Greg de Vera, chief of the PAGASA office in Dagupan, said the amihan, also known as the Siberian wind, causes big waves that pose a high risk to beachgoers.
“Because it’s windy, waves swell,” De Vera told The PUNCH.
The warning though may have come too late for a number of frolickers. Several drowning incidents have been reported recently in different parts of the Pangasinan coastline, which faces the South China Sea.
Among these are five minors in Agno early this month of December who drowned when big waves suddenly swept them away them while swimming.
On the same day, nine fishermen from Bolinao went missing after their motorized bancas capsized due to big waves while fishing in the high seas.
The group of fishermen remains missing as of December 10, according to Fred Castelo, municipal administrator of Bolinao and chairman of the municipal disaster coordinating council.
On December 8, a 27-year old Sudanese, Rathym Ahmed, a pharmacy student at the University of Luzon in Dagupan, also drowned when he and his friends went swimming in Lingayen.
De Vera said it is best for the public to wait for the summer months, from March to May, when the monsoon wind shifts from the northeast to southwest at which time the waves are “quiet”, perfect for swimming.
The amihan occurs from November to February and the big waves it causes are further aggravated by hot temperature during midday.#
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