By ROGER M. BALANZA

A Low Pressure Area (LPA) moving towards the country would be named “Paolo” after it enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR)  and develops into a tropical cyclone.

Typhoon Paolo would be the Philippines’ 16th tropical cyclone for 2021 and comes amid massive recovery efforts from devastation brought by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette.

Odette hit the country on December 16, first landing in Siargao Island in Mindanao and exited three days later, after leaving a swathe of destruction in nine landfalls in Mindanao and the Visayas.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said on Wednesday, December 22, that there is now a 60% to 70% probability of the low pressure area becoming a tropical cyclone.

PAGASA said the LPA may enter the PAR after Christmas, and not Christmas Eve as it predicted earlier.