MANILA, Philippines – Oriental Mindoro is “ready and well-prepared” when Typhoon Ruby (international name: Hagupit) hits the province on Monday evening, December 8, said Governor Alfonso Umali Jr.

Ruby is seen to make its 3rd landfall over Oriental Mindoro on Monday, between 6 pm and 8 pm, according to state weather bureau PAGASA.

The province has been placed under Storm Signal Number 3, along with 11 other areas in southern Luzon.

In an interview with ANC, Umali said that the province implemented forced evacuations, with 37,323 individuals are now in evacuation centers.

“Since may time pa naman kami [before landfall], siguro kung mayroon pa kaming makukuha, talagang pinupuwersa na naming lahat silang kunin,” Umali said. (Since we still have time before landfall, maybe if we could find people who remained, we would really force them to be evacuated.) 

He said he ordered town mayors, the police, and the military to “arrest” stubborn residents who refuse to evacuate ahead of the storm.

“Kasi mahirap na eh, kaysa magsisihan pa later, di ba? So sabi ko, ‘Arestuhin ‘nyo na. Kung kinakailangang posasan, posasan ‘nyo, and bring them,'” Umali added. (We are just being cautious, instead of blaming each other later, right? So I said, “Make arrests if necessary. If they should be handcuffed, do it, and bring them [to evacuation centers].)

Umali also said the provincial government has given each municipality an initial 20 sacks of rice, while the National Food Authority (NFA) provided an additional 100 sacks of rice. – Rappler.com