Civil Defense Administrator Ariel Nepomuceno visits the Payag sang Kapag-on Village in Bago City Friday morning.*Bago CDRRMO photo
The Negros Occidental provincial government wants to relocate residents within Kanlaon Volcano’s 6-kilomter danger zone into permanent and safer relocation sites to restore normalcy into their lives, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Friday.
“For us to be disaster resilient we have to get away from danger, it’s about time to wake up…we need to act now,” he said.
There are currently 1,763 families with 5,678 members from La Castellana, La Carlota City, and Bago City who have been living in evacuation centers since the Dec. 9 eruption of Kanlaon Volcano.
Authorities say they will have to live in evacuation centers until Kanlaon’s alert level is lowered from 3 to 2, but when the volcano will calm down cannot be determined.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has recommended that communities within a 6-kilometer radius of the Kanlaon summit crater remain evacuated due to the danger of potential pyroclastic density currents or PDCs, ballistic projectiles, rockfalls, ashfall and other related hazards that could be posed by explosive eruptions.
The Negros Occidental provincial government has been spending about P12 million a month to feed the evacuees, Diaz said.
Ther P50 million assistance from Malacañang has helped, he said.
“We are thankful the Office of the President gave us that amount,” Diaz said.
When the P50 million is depleted, local funds will have to kick in, he added.
A permanent solution is needed because the displaced residents who have been living in evacuation centers for four months need to get on with their lives and have normalcy, he said.
Diaz lauded Bago City for its Payag sang Kapag-on Village that has enabled evacuees to relocate from cramped evacuation centers to bahay kubos with spacious surroundings.
If La Carlota and La Castellana can set up similar relocation sites it would be ideal because displaced residents will have the privacy of their own homes and can plant vegetables and raise livestock.
The provincial government is willing to help if it is acceptable to all concerned, Diaz said.
“We don’t know if Kanlaon will return to a dormant stage and how long it will last if that happens,” he said.
Diaz said their top priority following Kanlaon’s latest eruption is to keep a close watch on the health conditions of residents that may be affected by water contamination caused by the ash and sulfur spewed by the volcano, and respiratory ailments from the dust.
So far no surge in cases have been reported but the provincial government has taken proactive measures by sending medical teams to affected areas and distributing medicines and face masks, Diaz said.
The provincial government has also been providing gasoline to the Bureau of Fire Protection to flush out ash on roads to prevent dust that could create respiratory diseases, he said.
“Other local governments and private volunteers are also helping, the Bayanihan spirit is alive and we are proud of our community,” Diaz said.*