• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Agricultural damage and losses due to the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon last June in La Castellana, Negros Occidental have reached P194 million, affecting thousands of farmers, Mayor Alme Rhummyla Nicor-Mangilimutan said on Tuesday (Nov. 19).
Mangilimutan noted that ash fall wreaked havoc on various crops such as coffee and vegetables as well as livestock and fishponds, which was preceded by the effects of El Niño several months before.
Affected areas are the villages of Masulog, Biak Na Bato, Cabagnaan, Mansalanao, Sag-ang, northern portion of barangays of Cabacungan, Manghanoy and Camandag.
Records of the Provincial Veterinary Office earlier showed that more than 3,400 livestock and chickens within the four-kilometer permanent danger zone died during the eruption.
Since the June 3 explosive eruption, Mt. Kanlaon remains under Alert Level 2 (increasing unrest).
In the past 24 hours, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology recorded one ash emission event, which lasted three minutes, and 11 volcanic quakes.
It also emitted 7,818 tons of sulfur dioxide on Nov. 18.
Mangilimutan said that 47 families, either residents or those who have established farms within the permanent danger zone, have been barred from returning to their respective areas.
Of the affected families, more than 30 have already established residences outside the permanent danger zone, while 10 families, composed of about 38 persons, who have nowhere to go, are now staying at the Masulog barangay covered court, and being fed by the municipal government of La Castellana on a daily basis, the mayor said.
Mangilimutan said that the municipal government has set aside a 1.7-hectare lot in Barangay Manghanoy to be used for the relocation site of 10 families, and for the construction of an evacuation center.
The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development will help the 10 affected families build homes in the relocation site while the building of the evacuation center is expected to be financed by the national government, she added. | GB
