MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the relocation sites of displaced residents within the seven-kilometer radius danger zone of Taal Volcano, Malacañang said Wednesday.
Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said housing units across Batangas, Laguna, Cavite and Quezon, which were intended for police officers and soldiers will be distributed to families displaced by Taal Volcano’s eruption.
“The National Housing Authority has previously allotted a total of 5,448 housing units in favor of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police which are spread out in Batangas, Laguna, Cavite and Quezon,” Panelo said in a statement.
“The President approved the request of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) to offer these housing units as a grant to the displaced families instead and commended such act of generosity,” he added.
Quoting DHSUD Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario, Panelo noted about 5,000 to 6,000 households, of which include 2,000 families in Taal Volcano Island itself, were affected by the eruption last month.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has lowered Taal Volcano’s alert level status from 4 to 3, which indicates a “decreased tendency towards hazardous eruption.”