• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The P50-million assistance given by the Office of the President to the Negros Occidental provincial government will be utilized for the food of the evacuees affected by the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Friday (Jan. 17).
According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, there are still 1,860 families, composed of 5,823 individuals, staying in 15 evacuation centers, excluding the 1,761 families, comprising 5,548 persons, outside of the evacuation centers.
Lacson said the internally displaced persons (IDPs) may have to stay longer in the evacuation centers due to the continuing unrest of the volcano.
The declaration of Alert Level 3 led to the evacuation of all residents within the extended six-kilometer danger zone.
In an advisory issued on Jan. 17, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology recorded three more ash emission events, which are two to 187 minutes long, and logged 17 volcanic earthquakes, including three volcanic tremors.
Based on a worst-case scenario, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) is looking into the evacuation of 100,000 people, if Mt. Kanlaon erupts again.
Lacson said the OCD would like to put up a tent city in Himamaylan City to accommodate the spillover of evacuees.
“It does not mean, we would like to move our IDPs as soon as possible,” he added, stressing that Mt. Kanlaon is still on Alert Level 3, and those who live within the six-kilometer danger zone are still staying in the evacuation centers.
The evacuees living outside the danger zone were allowed to go home by their respective local government units (LGUs) due to insufficient resources in the evacuation centers, the governor said.
He noted that those who returned home are willing to evacuate again, if there is a need.
While they were contented with the food in the evacuation centers, there is also a loss of livelihood, which is very important for them, he added.
La Castellana Mayor Alme Rhummyla Nicor-Mangilimutan said they cannot afford to take care of all the evacuees, if Alert Level 4 will be declared over Mt. Kanlaon.
Lacson said Mangilimutan has not yet signed a memorandum of agreement with Himamaylan City, where the evacuees from La Castellana will be housed in a tent city, due to lack of clear guidelines on who will take care of them.
The DSWD extends food packs to the evacuees only good for breakfast and the LGUs have to take charge of lunch and dinner, the mayor said. | GB
