Face masks, food aid needed as ash blankets Albay towns

A family at Ligao City in Albay province receives face masks from a donor to protect them from inhaling ash spewed out by Mayon volcano. —MICHAEL B. JAUCIAN

LEGAZPI CITY—Face masks, food and hygiene kits have become the most sought-after supplies in Albay province as Mt. Mayon continues to spew out ash and lava for the second week now.

Local drugstores and shops, however, could not keep up with the demand for face masks starting Jan. 13, when the volcano showed a high level of unrest.

Oas Mayor Domingo Escoto Jr. said the local government was in dire need of face masks, which it would distribute to residents.

“We need it very much especially for the children. Whenever Mayon erupts, ashfall always [blankets our town] because of the wind direction,” he said.

Pooling resources

Learning of the shortage, members of Feed Hungry Minds, a nongovernment organization based in Guinobatan town, pooled their resources to buy face masks that they gave away in communities where heavy ashfall had been reported.

“We [want to ensure their] good health that’s why we are out in the streets distributing face masks,” said Sabrina Lontoc, managing director of Feed Hungry Minds.

Krissa Recuenco, disc jockey at Radyo Veritas and Spirit FM in Legazpi, said she and her companions sought donations of face masks so they could help people in need.

As of Thursday, records from local governments and disaster response agencies showed that more than 74,000 people, who fled their communities within Mayon’s danger zone, were staying in evacuation centers around the province.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has raised Alert Level 4 over Mayon, which means a hazardous eruption is imminent.

Groups like JCI Legazpi-Dawani, Team Albay Youth Organizations, Rotaract Club of Legazpi Central and Simon of Cyrene (based in Daraga) started collecting donations and giving out assorted goods to evacuees.

Members of the local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community also distributed food packs and hygiene kits to evacuees at Cabagñan Elementary School in Camalig town.

Help has also started coming in from nearby Camarines Sur province.

Marieser Almelor, city disaster risk reduction and management officer of Iriga City, said the city sent 1,000 kilograms of tilapia to Tabaco City on Wednesday.

Fish donation

The fish shipment was intended for the public kitchen in Tabaco, which was preparing food for evacuees in the city.

Naga City Mayor John Bongat led the relief mission sponsored by the city government with various agencies and organizations in Naga City like the Metro Naga Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Metro Naga Water District and Naga City Urban Poor Federation on Tuesday.

Bongat said they delivered three truckloads of hygiene kits and food to evacuation centers in Ligao City and Guinobatan and Camalig, through the help of local officials.

Bongat said the relief operation was partly funded by a donation drive organized by Naga residents when Mt. Mayon started showing signs of unrest two weeks ago. —REPORTS FROM MICHAEL JAUCIAN, REY ANTHONY OSTRIA AND JUAN ESCANDOR JR.