Persons caught entering the Kanlaon Volcano 4-kilometer radius Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) will be jailed, Joan Nathaniel Gerangaya, Negros Occidental Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer, said Tuesday, August 9.
Gerangaya said he has received reports of trekkers climbing to the volcano’s crater and of some guides helping them.
Despite strict monitoring there are trekkers who slip through, he said.
They reportedly pass through the Guintubdan-Wasay trail at night so they are not easily detected, he said.
Those caught entering the danger zone can immediately be imprisoned for violating a government regulation, Gerangaya said.
Kanlaon is under Alert Level 1 and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has banned entry into the PDZ because of possible sudden steam-driven or phreatic eruptions.
Gerangaya said trekkers and their guides caught entering the PDZ will also face charges.
Guides will also be stripped of their right to operate as such, he added.*