The head of the humanitarian arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) appealed to the faithful to help communities in Negros Island that were affected by the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon.
Fr. Carmelo Caluag, Caritas Philippines executive director, on Monday, June 18, sought the public’s help in assisting residents under four dioceses in the island — the dioceses of San Carlos, Bacolod, and Kabankalan in Negros Occidental, and the diocese of Dumaguete in Negros Oriental.
“We are seeking your help, either cash or in-kind donations, so that we can continue to send them to the families affected by the Mt. Kanlaon (eruption). It looks like this is not yet ending soon so we have to be prepared with the provisions needed to help them,” he said in an interview over Church-run Radio Veritas.
Caluag said the residents are in dire need of face masks, food and drinking water.
Some 833 families or 2,711 individuals are still staying in five evacuation centers two weeks since the volcano’s eruption.
The government, through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), had already distributed P25.83 million worth of assistance to communities affected by the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon.
The aid includes food packs and non-food relief items like hygiene kits.
Mt. Kanlaon remains under Alert Level 2, which means there remains increasing unrest, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.*PNA