Mt. Kanlaon evacuees get P17.5M in aid

HELP FROM GOVERNMENT First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos (fourth from left), and national and local government officials join representatives of evacuated families from La Castellana, Negros Occidental, for a group photo after receiving government aid on June 15. —Thomas T. Delociento Jr./contributor

BACOLOD CITY, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines —Some 1,750 families affected by the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon in the town of La Castellana and Bago City in Negros Occidental received P17.5 million in cash relief from the government on Saturday.

The aid distribution led by First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos in La Castellana also included food packs and hygiene kits, said Mayor Rhummyla Mangilimutan of the town in an interview.

The first lady was accompanied by Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian, Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos, Bacolod City Mayor Albee Benitez, and Rep. Emilio Yulo III of Negros Occidental’s fifth district.

READ: P68 million in crops, fisheries ruined by Kanlaon blast

Mangilimutan said she was also assured of national government assistance for residents who lost their livelihood due to Mt. Kanlaon’s eruption.

She thanked the first lady, Abalos, Gatchalian, Benitez, Yulo, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Melquiades Robles, and Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson for their support.

“My heart is full of gratitude and appreciation not only for your help but also for your presence. We have felt that we are not alone in this battle,” Mangilimutan told the officials who visited her town.

Distributed on Saturday was P10,000 per family under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

There were 1,500 beneficiaries from La Castellana and 250 from Bago City, which the first lady also visited on Saturday.

Mt. Kanlaon’s eruption on June 3 had caused P68,497,436 in damage to crops and fisheries in La Castellana and the cities of Bago and La Carlota, data from Negros Occidental’s Office of the Provincial Agriculturist showed.

The volcano remained under alert level 2 due to increased unrest, which could mean that its current restiveness was driven by shallow magmatic processes that could eventually lead to explosive eruptions at the summit crater, state volcanologists earlier said. —Carla P. Gomez