• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
After the moderate explosive eruption of Kanlaon Volcano early Tuesday morning, at least 123 barangays in 11 local government units of Negros Occidental have reported being affected with ashfall, while residents of other villages experienced the odor of sulfur.
The five-minute moderately explosive eruption generated a grayish voluminous plume that rose approximately 4.5 kilometers above the summit crater, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).
Incandescent pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) were also reported by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology descending the southern slopes, within about two kilometers from the crater.
Large ballistic fragments were also observed to have been ejected, within a few hundred meters around the crater, and causing the burning of vegetation near the volcano summit, PHIVOLCS added.
Despite the moderate explosive eruption, Alert Level 3 still prevails over Kanlaon.
A report of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) of Negros Occidental advised the public to report any Kanlaon-related incidents in their local government unit and continue to take precautionary measures against the harmful effects of the recent eruption.
The PDRRMO – Emergency Operations Center monitored either ashfall or sulfur smell in the cities of Bacolod, La Carlota, Bago, San Carlos, as well as in the municipalities of La Castellana, Murcia, San Enrique, Valladolid, Pontevedra, Hinigaran, and Binalbagan.
The Office of the Civil Defense also prohibited entry into the six-kilometer extended danger zone from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., mostly for residents carrying out farming and other essential activities.
Philippine Air Lines (PAL) cancelled on May 13 six flights from Bacolod-Silay Airport to Manila and Cebu.
Atty. Jossil Macute, Commission on Elections assistant regional director of Negros Island Region, described the eruption of Kanlaon, a day after the elections, as an act of “divine intervention,” which he said was an answered prayer for them.
From June 2024 up to April this year, Kanlaon Volcano has erupted four times.*
