• RICHARD T. CABALLERO JR.
Approximately 500 internally displaced individuals (IDPs) remain in temporary shelters across several evacuation centers in the town of La Castellana, Negros Occidental, after the devastation wrought by Typhoon Tino last month.
Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Chief John De Asis reported yesterday that, out of some 4,000 evacuees, about 500 are still in evacuation centers.
Vice Mayor Rhummyla Nicor-Mangilimutan earlier stated that most evacuees have already returned to their homes, while some have found new places to settle in.
De Asis added that the municipal government has coordinated with school administrations to seek an extension for the continued use of school facilities as evacuation centers.
“We have already requested an extension from the schools while we continue to search for other temporary shelter options. We are also exploring alternatives to ensure that face-to-face classes can resume,” he explained, noting that regular classes at schools currently occupied by evacuees remain on hold.
The municipality is preparing an 8.3-hectare lot in Barangay Robles to relocate at least 300 displaced families who were situated in the areas tagged by the authorities as no-build zones.
Meanwhile, roughly 60 families living within the four-kilometer danger zone around Mount Kanlaon continue to seek shelter in their respective barangay halls.
“They are now in their barangays. We turned them over to the local government unit, which has been providing assistance since July last year,” De Asis said.
The provincial government of Negros Occidental has acquired a parcel of land in Barangay Talaptap to serve as relocation site for Mt. Kanlaon’s victims.*
