MANILA - Typhoon Ramil (Lupit) is expected to make landfall over Cagayan province on Sunday morning, not Friday night or Saturday as earlier projected, the weather bureau reported Friday.

"Ramil is expected to move closer to extreme northern Luzon and again possible landfall, again naga-adjust po tayo, instead of tonight or early tomorrow, dahil sa halos hindi siya kumikilos, ay Sunday morning," the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) operations chief Nathaniel Cruz reported in a press briefing Friday.

In its 11 a.m. weather bulletin, PAGASA said Ramil has maintained its strength and remains almost stationary over the northern tip of Cagayan province.

"We want to emphasize na yun pong pagbagal ni Ramil ay patuloy na nararanasan dito sa probinsiya ng Cagayan at ng Ilocos Norte," Cruz said.

PAGASA said residents living in these provinces continue to fear Ramil, whose center remains stationary over Cagayan.

"But again, due to the interaction of Ramil o yun pong epekto ng kalupuaan dito sa Luzon, posibleng makapaghina dito kay Ramil at yung tinatawag nating pagpasok ng tuyo at malamig na hangin na nanggagaling sa hilaga nitong si Ramil ay makakadagdag sa posibleng paghina pa sa mga susunod na oras," Cruz said.

PAGASA's 11 a.m. weather bulletin stated that as of 10 a.m., typhoon Ramil was spotted 110 kilometers east of Aparri in Cagayan.

Ramil has maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometer per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up tp 150 kph.

Public storm warning signal no. 3 is still up in the Batanes Goup, Cagayan, Calayan Island, Babuyan Islands, Apayao and Ilocos Norte.

Likewise, storm signal no. 2 is raised in five provinces including Abra, Ilocos Sur, Kalinga, Isabela and Mt. Province, while La Union, Benguet, Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and Northern Aurora are under storm signal number 1.

Coastal areas in provinces under storm signals number 3 and 2 can expect storm surges and big waves

Ramil is expected to be 90 kilometers east of Aparri, Cagayan on Saturday morning; 75 kms northeast of Aparri, Cagayan on Sunday morning; and, 55 kms north northeast of Aparri, Cagayan on Monday morning.

2 dams remain open

Meanwhile, only two major dams remain open and have been releasing water. These are the Ambuklao and Binga dams both located in Benguet province.

"Dalawang major dams na lang ang nakabukas at nagpapakawala ng tubig. Ang Ambuklao at Binga, 31 cms and 140 cms respectively," Cruz said.

Other dams like San Roque in Pangasinan, Pantabangan in Nueva Ecija as well as the Magat dam in Bulacan are closed.

"Ito na lamang pong Ambuklao at Binga. Lahat naman niyang pinapakawalan ng tubig ay tumutuloy dito sa San Roque Dam," Cruz said

The slow movement of the typhoon is reportedly due to the two high pressure areas (HPAs).

“Halos nasa gitna siya ng dalawang high pressure area na magkaiba ang impluwensiya sa kanya. The first high pressure area is somewhere in South China sea over Hong Kong na kung saan up to now ay napipigil ang kanyang pag lakad from east going to west, while there is another high pressure area sa northern part niya,” Cruz explained.