• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Internally displaced persons (IDPs) affected by the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon, who were transferred to other evacuation centers, will continue to receive food assistance from the provincial government, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said yesterday.
More than 1,900 IDPs moved out of the school-based evacuation centers in La Castellana and La Carlota City last Friday to give way for the opening of classes.
Lacson said they will stop providing food assistance to IDPs transferred from schools to covered courts of their respective barangays.
“It is like allowing them back to their areas,” he added.
“It is near them. We cease to provide their daily needs as they start to live their normal lives. Their houses need to be cleaned up first before they enter,” the governor said.
In La Castellana, IDPs from barangays Biak Na Bato, Mansalanao, Masulog, and Sag-ang were transferred from the poblacion evacuation centers to their respective barangay covered courts.
However, some IDPs from Barangay Cabagnaan, whose places of residence are located within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone, are still staying in some classrooms with the permission of school officials.
Others are moving in the established emergency shelter tents.
About 4,000 residents of La Castellana were temporarily displaced by the Kanlaon Volcano eruption.
The Office of Civil Defense is fast tracking the establishment of modular tents in Barangay Mansalanao as a temporary relocation site for Cabagnaan residents.
Lacson said it is difficult to stay in a “tent city” since the rainy season is coming.
“It is really gonna be a challenge,” he said.
The governor said the provincial government continues to look for permanent relocation sites for IDPs.
He added that they are now negotiating with the owners of two properties, but there might be a problem as to the value of the land.
“We can’t just accept the offers of the owners. There got to be a basis for that. It will go through to a committee for assessment,” Lacson said. | GB
