THE National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) is gearing up for the effects of heavy rain on Monday when the southwest monsoon is expected to be enhanced by the entry of a strong typhoon in the Philippines earlier in the day, its spokesman said on Sunday.

“We are always prepared. The only problem that we see here is that the rain is intensifying even if the typhoon is far from us or 1,000 kilometers away from us,” Edgar Posadas told reporters.