• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
About 1,800 individuals who were affected by the Kanlaon Volcano eruption and had been staying in evacuation camps in La Castellana, Negros Occidental for more than seven months, on Sunday returned to their respective homes, which are located within the 6-kilometer extended danger zone.
Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officer John de Asis disclosed on Monday that the La Castellana municipal government could no longer afford to support the IDPs in the evacuation camps, as they have run out of funds.
The Incident Management Team and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of La Castellana allowed IDPs to decamp three evacuation centers in La Castellana, according to De Asis.
He added that some internally displaced persons (IDPs) returned to their respective homes near the highway, which are located more than 5.2 kilometers from the summit of Kanlaon Volcano, while others will stay in family tents in two identified campsites in Brgy. Cabagna-an, La Castellana.
But he admitted that the area of Barangay Cabagna-an in La Castellana is still within the 6-kilometer extended danger zone of Kanlaon Volcano
For more than seven months, the local government of La Castellana and the Negros Occidental provincial have taken turns in feeding more than 3,200 IDPs, aside from the food packs provided by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
There are about 1,400 residents of Biak Na Bato, Masulog and Mansalanao barangays in La Castellana, who are still occupying evacuation centers at the La Castellana town poblacion, de Asis said.
Two weeks ago, an estimated 37 families left their evacuation center in La Castellana, without the consent of La Castellana municipal government, due to complaints of poor accommodations, and being tired and fed up of staying at evacuation centers.
Donato Sermeno III, Office of Civil Defense regional director for Negros Island Region, disclosed that the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology maintains that there should be no human activity within the six-kilometer extended danger zone.
Sermeno, however, said that the concerned local government unit has the final say, as they respect the latter’s autonomy.
Kanlaon Volcano has remained under Alert Level 3 since its eruption last December 9, indicating that “magmatic eruption has begun and may progress to further explosive eruptions.”
La Castellana Mayor Anejo Nicor has reiterated his plea for the national government to help the IDPs in the town.
While President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved in May, the release of P48,521,00 for La Castellana, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has yet to download the funds.
Nicor said they submitted the necessary documents to DBM twice already, but have not received any response.
While the DSWD continues to provide food packs to IDPs, Nicor said the provincial government of Negros Occidental ended its second set of serving hot meals to the evacuees. Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said they want to continue the Capitol community kitchen, which serves the hot meals to IDPs, using the remaining funds of the P50 million given by the national government.*
