• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Negros Occidental provincial government will resume its feeding program today for about 2,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) affected by the eruption of Kanlaon Volcano.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the province will utilize the remaining P2.8 million out of the P50 million assistance released by Malacañang.
Lacson said the amount is enough to provide “hot meals” for 30 days that will be served in seven community kitchens in La Castellana and one each in La Carlota City and Bago City.
The La Castellana municipal government earlier allowed the return of 1,850 evacuees to their homes located near the highway in Barangay Cabagna-an, which is outside the 5.2-kilometer radius from the summit crater of Kanlaon Volcano.
La Castellana Mayor Añejo Nicor said they were forced to release the IDPs as their funds for the evacuees have already been depleted.
Donato Sermeno III, regional director of Office of Civil Defense (OCD)-Negros Island Region, said while they maintain that human activity within the six-kilometer radius of the volcano is not advisable, they respect the decision of the concerned local government.
The affected local government units have been advised to inquire with the Department of Budget and Management on the release of additional funds from the national government.
Nicor, however, said they have yet to get a response from the DBM after they submitted the required documents.
Sermeno said Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, the chairman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, told the OCD that he will help find alternative funding sources to support the remaining IDPs in the evacuation camps. | GB
