• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The San Carlos City government in Negros Occidental is preparing two evacuation sites to accommodate the spillover of evacuees from Canlaon City, Negros Oriental in case of another eruption of Mt. Kanlaon.
Jose Recalex Alingasa, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said on Wednesday (Feb. 12) that under Oplan Alayon, the city government earmarked the evacuation centers for about 2,000 families or 8,000 individuals.
These are among those expected to be displaced should Alert Level 4 be declared by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
The two evacuation sites are located in barangays of Rizal and Prosperidad.
Earlier this week, Phivolcs reported that the magma in Kanlaon Volcano has risen to less than five kilometers from the crater, with frequent tremors also noted, based on its ground deformation models.
“Should another eruption occur, be it sooner, or later hopefully, it will be a lava flow. We should prepare for it,” Donato Sermeno III, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) regional director for Negros Island Region, said.
Sermeno reported that 220 family tents have already been assembled at the tent city in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental.
The tent city is being prepared for the spillover of evacuees from La Castellana, where almost all barangays are situated within the six-kilometer radius permanent danger zone of the volcano.
The tent city in Vallehermoso, Negros Oriental intended also for Canlaon City evacuees has not yet started as the concerned local government unit is still looking for a site, Sermeno said.
He added that the OCD is also sending family tents to Canlaon and San Carlos.
The municipal government of Moises Padilla in Negros Occidental also entered into a memorandum of agreement with Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental to accommodate its residents in case of another eruption.
The OCD is preparing for the potential evacuation of up to 100,000 residents should the volcano’s alert level be raised from Alert Level 3 to 4, according to OCD administrator Ariel Nepomuceno.
Alert Level 3, or magmatic unrest, still prevails over the volcano.
As of Feb. 12, a total of 8,753 families composed of 28,638 persons from Regions 6 and 7 have been affected by the continuing unrest Mt. Kanlaon, data from the Department of Health- Negros Island Region showed. | GB
