MANILA, Philippines — Around 200 individuals in Sorsogon are taking shelter in an evacuation center after the Bulusan Volcano erupted, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported Tuesday.
According to NDRRMC spokesperson Mark Timbal, the evacuees are staying in Barangay Tughan in Juban town as the volcano blanketed some areas in the province with ashes.
“So far po, sa atin pong report po na natanggap, isang evacuation center lang po sa Tughan in Juban, Sorsogon ang ginamit po ng 260 nating mga kababayan na nagsilikas po dahil po dito sa ashfall incident,” he said in a Laging Handa public briefing.
(So far, based on a report that we received, 260 people who evacuated due to the ashfall incident are in one evacuation center in Tughan in Juban, Sorsogon.)
Meanwhile, Timbal said agricultural damages were pegged at P20 million, citing data from the Department of Agriculture.
“Ang naitala po ng ating mga kasamahan sa Department of Agriculture may estimated initial assessment po tayo ng P20,285,000 worth of damages po sa rice and high-value crops doon sa area pati na rin po ang livestock, poultry dahil po dito sa ashfall,” he shared.
(Our workers in the Department of Agriculture listed an initial assessment of P20,285,000 worth of damages in rice and high-value crops as well as livestock, and poultry due to the ashfall.)
Despite this, the situation of the Sorsogon is “manageable at the level of the local government unit,” Timbal noted.
“So far po, batay po sa pronouncement po ni Governor [Francis] ‘Chiz’ Escudero, ang situation po ay manageable po at the level of the local government unit,” he said.
(So far, based on the pronouncement of Governor Chiz Escudero, the situation is manageable at the level of the local government unit.)
“When it comes to the impact po wala naman pong mga nasiraan ng mga bahay at ang mga serbisyo po ng ating pamahalaan at pati ng public utilities kagaya ng patubig, kuryente, telecommunications ay hindi naman po napatid,” the spokesman continued.
(When it comes to the impact, no one had his/her house damaged and government services and public utilities like irrigation, electricity, and telecommunications were not affected.)
Bulusan Volcano had a 17-minute phreatic eruption on Sunday morning, prompting the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology to raise Alert Level 1.