• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) wants local government units, especially La Castellana in Negros Occidental, to come up with detailed contingency plans in case of another eruption of Mt. Kanlaon.
OCD-Western Visayas Raul Fernandez, who chairs the Task Force Kanlaon, said should it happen again, about 40,000 residents of La Castellana will be evacuated.
Fernandez said La Castellana and other LGUs will present their respective contingency plans to the Regional Incident Management Team for assessment this Friday, Jan. 24.
In the case of La Castellana, he said they made some suggestions and initial revisions on the town’s contingency plan before its presentation.
A tent city in Himamaylan, Negros Occidental is being eyed as evacuation center of La Castellana residents, and Vallehermoso in Negros Oriental, for Canlaon City evacuees.
The OCD has activated its review team to look into the contingency plans of the LGUs.
“We will assess their readiness and know the gaps so that agencies can have support with different plans and programs if the alert level escalates,” Fernandez said.
As of Jan. 22, the Department of Health in Negros Island Region reported that there are 3,039 families, composed of 9,660 persons, staying in 22 evacuation centers. | GB
