Two more local government units in Negros Occidental were placed under a state of calamity on Wednesday, Sept. 18, following heavy rains and widespread flooding.
The La Carlota City and Hinigaran governments declared states of calamity on Wednesday, while San Enrique did so on Monday.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said they are also studying if the provincial government can already declare a state of calamity.
“It will depend on the number of LGUs that have declared themselves in a state of calamity…to my knowledge at least 25 percent” of the province’s population is needed, Lacson said.
What is important now is that help is reaching the affected LGUs, he said.
The response is a concerted effort of the town and city governments along with the provincial government and other agencies, especially the Department of Social Welfare and Development, he said.
“The DSWD has a warehouse in Negros where relief goods have been prepositioned. We will continue to help them (the evacuees) but we hope the weather condition will improve,” Lacson said.
Mayor Rex Jalandoon said they declared a state of calamity to have funds available since they have evacuees from the floods and those who are being preemptively evacuated from the Kanlaon Volcano danger zone.
They expect the number of preemptively evacuated residents from the danger zone in four sitios of Barangay Yubo to increase when the rains stop, Jalandoon said.
The preemptive evacuation from the Kanlaon Volcano danger zones that cannot be reached by vehicles has been hampered by the rains, he said.
Mayor Nadie Arceo also said that the Hinigaran Sangguniang Bayan also approved the declaration of a state of calamity on Wednesday.
More than 20,000 Hinigaran residents are affected by the rain and flooding, which has deprived them of their sources of income, Arceo said.
Mayor Daph Reliquias said about 3,000 residents evacuated because of overflowing rivers in Hinoba-an caused by heavy rain.
However, with the waters subsiding there was no need to declare a state of calamity, Reliquias said.*