• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Another batch of 1,548 residents of La Castellana, Negros Occidental, who were displaced by the eruption of Kanlaon Volcano, went home on Friday, Mayor Añejo Nicor disclosed.
This follows the return to their homes on July 31, of about 1,400 Kanlaon eruption affected individuals in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) downgraded the Kanlaon alert status, from Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2, which now allows the internally displaced persons( IDPs) from beyond the 4-km permanent danger zone to decamp.
The Office of Civil Defense maintains that entry into the 4-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ) of Mt. Kanlaon is still prohibited.
Nicor said the 27 families who reside within the 4-kilometer permanent danger zone in the La Castellana barangays of Masulog, Biak-na-Bato, and Cabagna-an, will remain in the evacuation centers.
Two weeks ago, the La Castellana municipal government also sent home about 1,800 IDPs, as they could no longer afford to support them in the evacuation centers.
The alert status was lowered as Kanlaon volcano exhibited less frequent volcanic earthquake activity, decreased volcanic gas emission by subsurface magma, and ground deformation cycles.
Forty-five other families living within the four-kilometer PDZ in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental, will also remain in the evacuation centers, Mayor Jose Chubasco Cardenas disclosed on Thursday.
In the neighboring La Carlota City, Mayor Jose Luis Jalandoni said they are sending 200 families back to their homes.
Regional Task Force Kanlaon head Raul Fernandez said 22 affected families in Bago City have already been relocated and provided with permanent homes by the city government in Barangay Ilijan.
The Negros Occidental provincial government is buying an 8-hectare property in La Castellana, to be used as a relocation site for IDPs residing within the 4-kilometer danger zone.
On the other hand, the OCD, according to Nicor, gave roofing materials to IDPs, whose residences were partially damaged by the ash fall.
The IDPs have been staying in evacuation centers for almost eight months, following the Kanlaon Volcano eruption on December 9 last year.
Task Force Kanlaon Chair and Office of the Civil Defense Western Visayas director Raul Fernandez said that schools located beyond the 4-km PDZ, but within the 6-km extended danger zone, can now resume classes as the Department of Education ensured submission of school contingency plans to OCD-NIR.
The Regional Incident Management Team (RIMT) can visit them, if needed, to assist with their plans and ensure the safety of the learners and teachers.
Fernandez urged the regional line agencies to provide the necessary assistance to the decamped IDPs to assist with their recovery, as early as possible.*
