• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The 257 families, who are living outside the six-kilometer extended danger zone of Kanlaon Volcano and have been staying in evacuation centers in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental in the past six months, are returning home on June 13.
The City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council approved on June 10 the request of the 257 families, composed of 890 persons, to return to their respective homes.
They are residents of sitios Bais, Batacon and Labinsawan in Barangay Yubo, and sitios Nailab and Tinin-awan in Barangay Ara-al.
Mayor Rex Jalando-on said the move will enable schools currently serving as evacuation centers to resume full in-person classes by June 16, addressing the prolonged disruption in education.
For nearly six months, La Carlota South Elementary School II, La Carlota North Elementary School, and La Carlota City College-Cubay Campus have been accommodating internally displaced persons (IDPs), limiting face-to-face classes to just two days a week.
Jalando-on said the shift back to regular school operations will benefit both traditional learners and IDP students, who can now reintegrate into formal schooling.
He said the remaining 62 families, composed of 226 individuals from Sitio Guintubdan in Barangay Ara-al, which is within the six-kilometer extended danger zone, will be relocated to the City Evacuation Center and gymnasium to ensure their continued safety.
Alert Level 3 (magmatic unrest) remains hoisted over Kanlaon Volcano, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno, administrator of the Office of Civil Defense, earlier confirmed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved an additional P200 million in financial assistance for local government units in Negros Island Region affected by the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon.
Jalandoon said they have yet to receive a notice from the Department of Budget and Management on the availability of funds. | GB
