• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Several local government units in Negros Occidental have been tapped to host families to be affected in case the Mount Kanlaon unrest intensifies.
The collaborative effort, dubbed “twinning response”, prioritizes the provision of maximum assistance to families to be affected by the eruption, the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Western Visayas said.
A team from the DSWD6 held a consultation meeting with Victorias Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez, City Social Welfare and Development officer Joy Reunir and staff, and Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management officer Rodolfo Retirado III at the City Hall on preparations for the twinning response to the Kanlaon eruption.
Victorias is set to host internally-displaced persons (IDPs) from La Carlota City, the DSWD6 said Jan. 9, adding that discussions focused on resource allocation, manpower deployment strategies, and in evaluating the evacuation center capacity.
A two-storey evacuation center has been designated as temporary shelter for IDPs.
Ocular visits to the Natalio G. Velez Sports and Cultural Center, and the Roque Hofileña Sports Complex, both in Silay City, were also done recently.
Both were identified as evacuation centers for IDPs from Bago City, with the twinning memoranda of agreement and evacuation center capacity/assignment on host LGUs being eyed, the DSWD said.
The twinning response is a joint initiative of national government agencies and local government units to address multi-level operational coordination in disaster-affected areas, it added.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office of La Castellana was consulted to assess the progress of the “twinning response” plan with Himamaylan City and Kabankalan City.
The meeting verified the evacuation center capacity data with the projected number of families affected within the extended danger zone.
In Bacolod, the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council held a special meeting on the LGU’s preparedness.
The DRRMO Taculing evacuation center has also been identified as command center in case of higher alert level over Mount Kanlaon, which is currently at Level 3, or high level of volcanic unrest.
Raul Fernandez, chair of Task Force Kanlaon and director of the Office of Civil Defense Western Visayas, said in a press conference Jan. 8 that under Alert Level 3, an estimated 4,954 families, or 18,085 individuals, are projected to be affected, while Alert Level 4 could impact 29,600 families, or 124,053 individuals. | CGC
