• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Several families of internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned to their assigned evacuation center in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, after being persuaded to do so by local government officials, Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office head John de Asis disclosed on Wednesday.
Thirty-seven families, composed of 100 individuals, abandoned the evacuation center they were using on June 30 in La Castellana, without the consent of the local government unit concerned.
De Asis reported that initially, eight families, composed of 24 individuals, were transported back to the evacuation center on Wednesday, after being given assurance that the concerns and issues they raised during a meeting will be addressed.
Based on reports of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office, three more families have also agreed to return to the evacuation center, he added.
The evacuees who abandoned the evacuation center were reportedly complaining of poor accommodations, and were already tired and fed up of staying at the evacuation centers, while the national government had no clear plans for them.
Donato Sermeno III, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense – Negros Island Region, ruled out the use of force in bringing back IDPs to the evacuation center in La Castellana.
Sermeno, however, said they will tighten security further at the various entry points into the 6-kilometer extended danger zone, where Alert Level 3 remains hoisted over Kanlaon Volcano, to prevent their entry.
De Asis and Sermeno said they will exert their best efforts to persuade the escaped IDPs to return to the evacuation center, as OCD assured of solutions to the concerns raised by evacuees, including poor shelter conditions, vehicles to transport students to schools, and internet connectivity, among others.
Sermeno said they are now working with the OCD central office to send prefabricated shelters to the IDPs, instead of tents, and they already requested the Department of Information and Communications Technology to provide facilities and improve communication connectivity in the affected areas.
The IDPs in La Castellana have been occupying the evacuation centers for almost seven months, since the minor explosive eruption of Kanlaon Volcano on December 9 last year.*
