Preparations are underway for the orderly and safe return of 3,860 evacuees to their homes outside Kanlaon Volcano’s 4-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ), Donato Sermeno III, director of the Office of Civil Defense-Negros Island Region, announced on Wednesday, July 30.
The Regional Task Force Kanlaon (RTFK) convened Wednesday to discuss the decampment procedures.
This comes after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) downgraded Kanlaon Volcano’s threat status from Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2, indicating moderate unrest. This new alert level allows displaced residents outside the PDZ to return home.
However, Sermeno said that internally displaced persons (IDPs) must coordinate closely with their local government units (LGUs) for proper decampment.
He also said while the lower alert status is a “welcome development,” residents in Kanlaon’s hazard zones must remain vigilant and follow authorities’ advice.
RTFK Chairperson and OCD-6 Regional Director Raul Fernandez underscored the importance of an orderly decampment to ensure the safety and welfare of IDPs as they return to their communities.
The RTFK also proposed a resolution to remind LGUs, through the provincial governments of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, to strictly enforce the prohibition of human activity inside the PDZ, regardless of Kanlaon Volcano’s alert status.
Sermeno said the La Castellana and La Carlota City governments are holding meetings on Thursday to discuss decamping measures.
La Castellana aims for its evacuees to return home by Friday or Saturday, he said.
Canlaon City government officials also held a meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss the decamping of evacuees, Mayor Jose Chubasco Cardenas said.
They will be sending home about 600 families who reside beyond 4.2 kilometers of Kanlaon on Thursday, Cardenas said..
Of the 4,160 individuals currently in evacuation centers in La Castellana, La Carlota City, and Bago City in Negros Occidental, and Canlaon City in Negros Oriental, only 103 families (about 300 individuals) from the 4-kilometer PDZ and geologically isolated areas cannot return home, Sermeno said.
This includes 45 families from Canlaon City and 36 from La Castellana who live within the PDZ, and 22 families in Bago City from geologically isolated areas.
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the provincial government is pursuing the purchase of property in La Castellana to serve as a permanent relocation site for residents from the PDZ.
They also hope to include those within the 6-kilometer danger zone in this relocation plan, to avoid repeated evacuations whenever Kanlaon’s alert level is raised to three, Lacson said.
Sermeno said that some evacuees from beyond the 4-kilometer PDZ also want to be permanently relocated.*