• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The release of P203 million funds promised by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for Kanlaon affected communities, especially the town of La Castellana, which is attending to the basic needs of more than 1,000 families in eight evacuation centers, currently remains in limbo.
Donato Sermeno, Office of Civil Defense – Negros Island Region regional director, said the funds have yet to be downloaded to the concerned local government units by the Department of Budget and Management, through the Local Government Support Fund.
During a consultation-dialogue organized by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Monday, Sermeno said the officials of affected Kanlaon LGUs should personally follow up with the DBM, as per the advice of the Department of Interior and Local Government.
OCD-NIR records indicated that there are 1,883 families composed of 6,032 individuals still occupying evacuation centers in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental, and the cities of Bago and La Carlota, and La Castellana, all in Negros Occidental.
Of P203 million earmarked for Kanlaon affected communities, La Castellana is allocated P48,521,100; La Carlota City – P63,097,000; Canlaon City – P29,723,350, and P62,539,736 for Himamaylan City, where a tent city is being established.
The supplementary fund is expected to help LGUs address gaps in essential services and resources in their respective communities, seven months into the evacuation of residents, following the December 2024 explosive eruption of the volcano.
Sermeno clarified that the P203 million requested by Kanlaon affected LGUs was endorsed by OCD to Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, who forwarded it, favorably endorsed, to the Office of President, assuming that it will be taken from the contingency funds.
It was later discovered that the funds will be taken from the Local Government Support Fund of DBM, where it is stuck until now, Sermeno said.
The DILG explained that many LGUs have pending requests to avail of funds from the LGSF, and that it should be followed up by the affected LGUs in Negros Island Region, he added.
Two weeks ago, 37 families, composed of 89 individuals, abandoned an evacuation camp in La Castellana, due to poor conditions at their accommodations. However, 28 families have returned, upon learning that they will no longer be getting support, in terms of food assistance, from the government.
The La Castellana municipal government earlier raised with the Office of Civil Defense the possibility of allowing internally displaced individuals (IDPs) residing within 5.2 kilometers of the Kanlaon danger zone to return home, as they can no longer afford to feed them.
Sermeno said that the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology maintains that there should be no human activity within the 6 kilometer extended danger zone.
He, however, said the LGU has the final say, as they respect their autonomy.
John de Asis, La Castellana Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, however said they will wait for the decision of the concerned government agencies.
Kanlaon Volcano remains under Alert Level 3 since its explosive eruption last December 9, indicating that “magmatic eruption has begun and may progress to further explosive eruptions.”*
