Tropical Storm Ramil maintains its strength as it moves past Luzon, and is soon to exit the landmass on Sunday afternoon or evening, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.
At 1 p.m. Ramil was last located in the vicinity of Olongapo City, Zambales, moving west-northwestward at 15 kilometers per hour (kph).
It maintains its maximum sustained winds of 65 kph, and gusts of up to 90 kph, consistent with its strength since 5 a.m., Pagasa reported.
Despite its later exit from Zambales, Pagasa warned that heavy rainfall, severe winds, and storm surge may still be experienced outside the landfall point.
Pagasa also said that Ramil may slightly weaken due to mountainous terrain, but is highly likely to re-intensify into a severe tropical storm outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Monday.
Still, the following Tropical Cyclone Wind Signals (TCWS) are still up:
TCWS no. 2
central and southern portions of Benguet
central and southern portions of La Union
Pangasinan
Nueva Ecija
Bulacan
Tarlac
Pampanga
Zambales
northern portion of Bataan
northern and central portions of Metro Manila (Caloocan City, Quezon City, City of Valenzuela, City of Marikina, City of Malabon, City of Navotas, City of Pasig, City of San Juan, City of Mandaluyong, City of Manila, City of Makati, Pateros, Taguig City, Pasay City, City of Parañaque)
northern and western portions of Rizal ( Rodriguez, Teresa, City of Antipolo, San Mateo, Taytay, Cainta, Angono)
TCWS no. 1
Cagayan including Babuyan Islands
Isabela
Quirino
Nueva Vizcaya
Apayao
Abra
Kalinga
Mountain Province
Ifugao
the rest of Benguet
Ilocos Norte
Ilocos Sur
the rest of La Union
Aurora
the rest of Bataan
the rest of Metro Manila
Quezon including Polillo Islands
Laguna
Cavite
Batangas
the rest of Rizal
Occidental Mindoro including Lubang Islands
Oriental Mindoro
Marinduque
Romblon
Camarines Norte
western portion of Camarines Sur
Burias Island
Fengshen: the sinker of MV Princess of the Stars
TS Ramil was given the international name Fengshen, the same name as the typhoon that capsized MV Princess of the Stars near Romblon in June 2008.
The MV Princess of the Stars is a 23,824-ton ferry acquired by Cebu-based Sulpicio Lines in 2004.
After four years in operation, on June 18, 2008 Tropical Depression Fengshen entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility and was given its local name ‘Frank.’ In the following days, Fengshen developed into a typhoon and made landfall in Samar on June 20 that year.
On June 21, 2008, the MV Princess of the Stars was cleared to sail from Manila to Cebu in the next 22 hours, carrying 851 passengers.
Reports then said that the ferry was cleared after initial weather forecasts said the typhoon was supposedly heading northwestward towards the Bicol Region, but it later shifted, and Typhoon Fengshen began moving towards Mindoro.
However, Fengshen’s movement shifted a third time and moved towards Metro Manila.
Due to this, the MV Princess ran into the typhoon around 16 hours into its travel, and was engulfed by strong winds and high waves near Sibuyan Island.
Based on reports, the ferry began tilting heavily to the left after water began entering the ship.
Among its 851 passengers, only 32 survived, and while 300 deceased bodies were recovered in a four-month-long search-and-rescue mission, another 400 remain unfound.
Seven years after the incident, in 2015, P241 million was awarded to the victims of the tragedy in a decision by the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC), citing testimonies from the survivors who said that there was no emergency management executed by the shipping company before, during, and after the sinking of the ship.
However, in 2021, the Manila RTC dismissed the criminal case against Edgar Go, one of the Sulpicio Lines executives, due to insufficient evidence of his involvement in the capsizing. /mr