• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) is eyeing other local government units (LGUs) in the first district of Negros Oriental to accommodate the spillover of evacuees from Canlaon City, should Mt. Kanlaon erupt again.
OCD-Negros Island Region Director Donato Sermeno III said on Friday (Jan. 10) that about 55,000 individuals in Canlaon City will be affected by another eruption.
He said the tent city in Vallehermoso town can accommodate only 660 families, raising the possibility that other evacuees will be brought to Guihulngan City and other neighboring LGUs in the first district.
OCD-Central Visayas Director Joel Erestain earlier stressed the need to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
The national disaster agency sent about 1,350 family tents to Negros Island for the setting up of tent cities in Vallehermoso, Negros Oriental, and Himamaylan City in Negros Occidental, in which the latter will accommodate evacuees from La Castellana.
Still, family tents in Himamaylan cannot accommodate the 1,911 families from La Castellana, if the volcano will erupt again thus, more schools will be utilized as evacuation centers.
While the OCD is preparing for the establishment of the tent cities, a total of 282 families, composed of 882 individuals, who are residing outside the six-kilometer radius permanent danger zones, left the evacuation centers and returned home, Sermeno said.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported that assistance provided by the national government and its local counterparts to families affected by the eruption totaled P164.48 million.
These include P109.95 million extended to Central Visayas and P54.53 million to Western Visayas.
The assistance consisted of family food packs, sleeping and hygiene kits, laminated sacks, modular tents, generator sets, and financial aid. | GB
