The mass evacuation of residents living in the 6-kilometer expanded danger zone surrounding the crater of Mt. Kanlaon in Negros Island has been completed, the head of Task Force Kanlaon (TFK) said on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
Director Raul Fernandez, TFK and Office of Civil Defense Western Visayas head, said the evacuation in Canlaon City in Negros Oriental had been completed on Tuesday.
Negros Occidental had completed its evacuation on Monday.
The Office of Civil Defense on Tuesday said 4,629 families with 15,512 individuals had been evacuated in Bago City, La Carlota City and La Castellana in Negros Occidental and in Canlaon City in Negros Oriental.
HELP NEEDED
Officials of the three cities and one town where mass evacuations took place have expressed concern that they may run out of funds to feed the evacuees over a long period, amid fears that it could last beyond the New Year.
“The provincial government will exert effort to assist them and off course we are also banking on the national government, like the Department of Social Welfare and Development, for help”, Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said.
The governor said he can understand the concern of the LGUs, especially La Castellana that has the largest number of evacuees.
“I think they’ve already spent their budget even on the first eruption last June so that is really a concern and we’ll see what we can do, “ he said.
Lacson said “there are civil societies, NGOs that are contributing, especially for food”.
He said there is a need for drinking water, LPG for cooking at the evacuation centers, sanitary kits and sleeping kits.
“I am calling on the private sector if they would like to donate anything that will help the living conditions of the evacuees,” he said.
Donors can either go directly to La Castellana or any LGU of their choice that is affected or send their donations through the provincial government, he said.
CANLAON CITY
Edna Lhou Masicampo, Canlaon City information officer, said they were also running low on resources to feed the evacuees and are waiting for the national government to download funds.
Canlaon City has been under a state of calamity for six months, having declared it following the June 3 Kanlaon eruption.
She said Canlaon City had 5,955 residents in their evacuation centers out of their 6,092 target or 97.9 percent as of Tuesday morning.
The others were staying in churches and with relatives so the 100 percent target was expected to be reached on Tuesday, she said.
She said some had initially resisted evacuating because they would have to leave their livelihoods behind. The residents who were evacuated rely on farming for their livelihood, she said.
Masicampo said they were also waiting for vehicles to transfer farm animals of the evacuated residents from the danger zone to the Canlaon livestock auction market and a Department of Agriculture farm.
Canlaon crops were not damaged by the Dec. 9 eruption because the wind direction at the time was towards Negros Occidental where the ash and other debris fell, she said.*