• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The provincial government of Negros Occidental is set to purchase an 8-hectare lot, to be used as a permanent relocation site for residents of La Castellana, Negros Occidental, that were affected by the eruption of Kanlaon Volcano.
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson disclosed on Tuesday that they currently negotiating with a landowner who has agreed to sell to the provincial government, an eight hectare property which is located outside the 6-kilometer extended danger zone.
The 8-hectare lot can accommodate 200 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who will also be given farm lots to cultivate, Lacson said.
It is a flat area with a nearby school, he added.
About 1,800 individuals affected by the Kanlaon Volcano eruption, who have been staying in evacuation camps for more than seven months in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, 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 that the La Castellana municipal government could no longer afford to support the IDPs in the evacuation camps, as they had run out of funds.
However, there are still about 1,400 IDPs who are residents of barangays Biak Na Bato, Masulog, and Mansalanao in La Castellana, who are still occupying evacuation centers at the La Castellana town poblacion.
Lacson said the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) will take charge of the land development, and provide housing for the IDPs at the relocation site.
He added that he will raise with the Department of Education the putting up of more classrooms in a school that is nearby the relocation site.
The Negros Occidental provincial government is also eyeing the purchase of another 11 hectare property, to be used as another relocation site for IDPs in La Castellana.
Eventually, the time will come if there is Alert Level 3, we won’t need to move because they are already on safer ground, Lacson said.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology maintains that there should be no human activity within the six-kilometer extended danger zone.
At the end of the day, it will be the local government unit to decide, Lacson said, stressing that the IDPs who decided to move out of the evacuation camps had been staying there for more than seven months.
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.”
Lacson also said that they will continue to feed the IDPs at the evacuation camps, using the remaining P2.8 million of the P50 million in funds given by Malacañang.*
