La Castellana evacuees return home
BACOLOD CITY, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines — Over a thousand evacuees in La Castellana town of Negros Occidental province have returned home last week, close to three weeks after Mt. Kanlaon erupted on June 3.
John de Asis, head of the town’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, said the evacuated residents who went back to their houses last Thursday and Friday were 190 families with 689 members in Barangay Cabagna-an and 179 families with 561 members in Barangay Sag-ang.
However, 40 families were still being sheltered in one evacuation center in La Castellana, as allowing them to return home would depend on the situation at the volcano, he added.
READ: Kanlaon still ‘highly dangerous’ – Phivolcs
De Asis said the families who lived within the 4-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ) located in Barangays Biak na Bato, Masulog and Cabagna-an would not be allowed to go home.
The Office of Civil Defense had earlier said that only those living outside the 4-km PDZ could go home, noting that Kanlaon Volcano remained under alert level 2 (period of unrest).
The volcano’s eruption on June 3 resulted in massive ash fall and release of sulfuric fumes that damaged P84.1 million in crops and fisheries in areas in the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental that surround Mt. Kanlaon.
In La Castellana, local officials led by Mayor Rhummyla Mangilimutan were seeking the help of the national government for permanent relocation sites for residents who were no longer allowed to live or farm within Kanlaon’s 4-km PDZ.
“Food needs at evacuation centers can be addressed now but the rehabilitation of our farmers’ livelihoods will be long term,” she stressed.
According to Mangilimutan, the residents who were still in evacuation centers came from lahar-prone areas and the 4-km PDZ.
No festivity
In Canlaon City in Negros Oriental, the local government has decided to cancel activities leading to its 57th charter day anniversary as it recovers from the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon and prepares for possible further volcanic activity since the volcano is still under alert level 2.
Canlaon City celebrates its Charter Day on July 1, but various activities, including cultural presentations, leading to the celebration usually begin in mid-June.
Mayor Jose Chubasco Cardenas, in an interview on June 19, said he only approved a Catholic Mass in the morning and a night of worship on July 1.
“We would rather celebrate Charter Day by giving cash assistance to farmers in need,” he said.
Cardenas said they were preparing for a “worst-case scenario” because of Mt. Kanlaon’s unpredictability. They felt it would be embarrassing to celebrate while at the same time asking for help from the national government.
The eruption of Kanlaon Volcano on June 3 has affected more than 1,600 vegetable farmers and 1,300 livestock raisers in the city, the mayor said.
Cardenas said he, however, could not yet give an estimate on the amount of the damage.
Cardenas said the city government has helped more than 5,000 vegetable and livestock farmers and 3,226 rice farmers.