The local government of Naga City in Camarines Sur imposed a general curfew as part of its effort to ensure public safety as Super Typhoon Pepito approached the Bicol Region on Saturday.

Based on the memorandum order signed by Naga City Mayor Nelson Legacion, a general curfew will be implemented starting noon time of Saturday.

Under the memorandum "all the residents are required to remain inside their homes or evacuation centers for their safety while "all the private establishments are directed to suspend operations during the curfew period."

It also emphasized that the "operation of all vehicles, except those used for emergency response and essential services, is strictly prohibited."

However, the memorandum excluded the "responding personnel from Incident Management Teams as well as members of the CDRRMC and Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils" from the curfew.

Office of Civil Defense Administrator, Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno said as of 7 am, 43,623 families or 134,653 person have already responded to the government's request to conduct a pre-emptive evacuation as the state weather bureau expect possible landslide in the affected areas and storm surge of up two to over three meters in the coastal areas in some provinces of Luzon and Visayas.

"There are areas that might experience two to three meters storm surge, which means it is much higher than a person, so they have to evacuate and go to a higher ground while they still have time," he said.

Nepomuceno also warned that because of the series of typhoons that hit the country in less than a month the landslide prone areas are now heavily saturated that will make it more prone to hazard. Robina Asido/DMS