
Raul Fernandez, Task Force Kanlaon and Office of Civil Defense Western Visayas head.*
Task Force Kanlaon is eyeing government housing villages in eight local government units in northern Negros Occidental for the expected surge in Kanlaon Volcano evacuees should Alert Level 4 be declared.
Raul Fernandez, Task Force Kanlaon and Office of Civil Defense Western Visayas head, said he asked for an inventory of the number of unoccupied houses in the National Housing Authority villages that can be temporarily used by the evacuees.
Some of the unoccupied houses have already been awarded to recipients and cannot be used, he said.
Many of the housing villages were built for the victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda and there are some that still have unoccupied houses, Fernandez said.
The housing villages are in the cities of Bacolod, Sagay, Victorias, Silay, Cadiz and Escalante and the municipalities of EB Magalona and Manapla, he said.
Fernandez said he met with officials of the LGUs that have housing projects with the National Housing Authority to determine how many of them can be temporarily used.
La Castellana town has 37,000 to 40,000 residents who need to be evacuated if Alert Level 4 is raised.
The immediate relocation sites of the La Castellana residents are the tent city in Himamaylan and the Himamaylan National High School, he said.
Evacuation sites in northern Negros are also being eyed, he said.
Fernandez also said Bago City is planning to ink a Memorandum of Agreement with Talisay City for the relocation of its residents under Alert Level 4.*