Central Luzon towns warned of possible flooding as Pampanga River rises due to Ulysses | ABS-CBN

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Central Luzon towns warned of possible flooding as Pampanga River rises due to Ulysses

Central Luzon towns warned of possible flooding as Pampanga River rises due to Ulysses

Rose Carmelle Lacuata,

ABS-CBN News

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MANILA - State weather bureau PAGASA on Tuesday warned residents of low-lying areas in Central Luzon to take precautionary measures as the water level in the Pampanga River basin rises due to tropical storm Ulysses (international name: Vamco).

In an advisory released 2:30 p.m., PAGASA said the passing of Ulysses over the Luzon landmass may cause an increase in the water level in the main Pampanga River and its tributaries and secondary streams.

In anticipation of this scenario, PAGASA warned residents of the following areas near the Pampanga River basin to be on alert for possible flooding and rain-induced landslides:

  • eastern parts of Nueva Ecija (Gabaldon, Laur, Bongabon, Rizal, Llanera, Pantabangan, Carranglan, San Jose City, Palayan City, Gen. Tinio and other immediate adjacent towns)
  • eastern Bulacan area (San Miguel, San Ildefonso, San Rafael, Doña Remedios Trinidad, Norzagaray, Angat)
  • Pampanga area (Arayat, Magalang, Porac, Mabalacat, Angeles City, Floridablanca)
  • Tarlac area (Bamban, Capas)

PAGASA also warned of possible storm surges in coastal areas of Pampanga and Bulacan within the river basin.

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Bulacan and Metro Manila, as well as Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac and parts of Zambales are currently under tropical cyclone warning signal no. 1 due to Ulysses.

Visit the ABS-CBN Weather Center for updates.

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv

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North Korea destroys family reunion center in 'inhumane act', Seoul says

North Korea destroys family reunion center in 'inhumane act', Seoul says

Agence France-Presse

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North Korea is demolishing a venue that for decades hosted tearful reunions of families separated by the Korean War and the division of the country, Seoul said Thursday, decrying the "inhumane" move.

Millions of people were swept apart by the 1950-53 Korean War, which split the peninsula and separated brothers and sisters, parents and children and husbands and wives.

Hostilities ceased with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically still at war and with all direct civilian exchanges prohibited.

Emotional reunions in the North's Kumgang mountain served as a testament to the devastating human cost of the Korean peninsula's division.

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But the meetings were subject to the vagaries of inter-Korea politics and often used as a negotiating tool by Pyongyang. The last one was held in 2018.

"The demolition of the Mount Kumgang Reunion Center is an inhumane act that tramples on the earnest wishes of separated families," a spokesperson for Seoul's unification ministry said.

South Korea "sternly urges an immediate halt to such actions" and "expresses strong regret".

"North Korea's unilateral demolition cannot be justified under any pretext, and the North Korean authorities must bear full responsibility for this situation," the spokesperson added.

Since 1988, around 130,000 South Koreans have registered their "separated families".

As of 2025, around 36,000 of those individuals are still alive, according to official data.

Seventy-five percent say they do not know if their relatives are alive or dead.

A handful were lucky enough to be chosen to take part in the occasional crossborder reunions, mostly hosted at the Mount Kumgang resort.

With the reunion program effectively halted, the reality for most of the separated families is that they are unlikely to ever see each other again.


SEVERING TIES


North and South Korea held the first such reunion in 1985, but it was not until 2000 that they became regular events following the first inter-Korean summit that year.

The reunions were marked by emotional scenes of families tearfully reuniting and parting after brief days of meeting.

Relations between the two Koreas are now at one of their lowest points in years, with the North launching a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last year declared Seoul his "principal enemy" and renounced his government's long-held goal of re-unification.

"Kim Jong Un declared his intention to sever all inter-Korean ties," Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Seoul's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, told AFP.

"I see this as part of that process," Lim said, of the reunion centre demolition.

Pyongyang has also bombarded the South with trash-carrying balloons, in what it says is retaliation for anti-Pyongyang propaganda missives sent north by activists.

© Agence France-Presse

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