Despite the warning of experts that Kanlaon Volcano may have another hazardous eruption, thousands of residents in Negros Island remain hesitant to leave their houses, posing a big challenge for the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).
As of Wednesday, Dec. 11, a total of 10,993 families or 37,699 individuals were already affected by the explosive eruption of Kanlaon Volcano in 28 cities and municipalities in Western Visayas (Region 6) and Central Visayas (Region 7).
Of the number, there were 4,308 families or 14,528 individuals that were displaced and either staying in 29 evacuation centers or other people’s houses. This translates to just 25 percent of the 56,000 people that are targeted to be evacuated by the government within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ).
“Hindi naman talaga sila nagre-resist pero gusto lang nila masigurado ang lilipatan nila, masecure ang kabahayan nila, and of course inaalala din nila ang mga hayop na dapat kasama din nil ana dapat i-evacuate (They are not really resisting [evacuation] but they just want to make sure that they are going somewhere safe, their houses will be secured, and of course they are also thinking of their farm animals that they want to evacuate),” said Asst. Sec. Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV, deputy administrator for administration of the OCD.
Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary and National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Chairman Gilberto Teodoro Jr. created Task Force Kanlaon headed by OCD Western Visayas Regional Director Raul Fernandez to coordinate response in Regions 6 and 7 and enforce mandatory evacuation.
“Kinausap na natin ang Task Force Kanlaon at ang PNP [Philippine National Police] na they will enforce itong [evacuation] order na ito para naman ito sa kaligtasan nila. Dahan-dahan po, we will make sure na we will provide the necessary logistical support, ang transportation na kailangan para po ma-execute itong mandatory evacuation (We have talked to Task Force Kanlaon and the PNP and they will enforce this [evacuation] order for the safety of the people. Slowly, we will make sure that we will provide the necessary logistical support, the transportation that they need to execute this mandatory evacuation,” Alejandro said.
So far, there are no plans yet to expand the coverage of the mandatory evacuation up to nine or 10 kilometers from the volcano.
Alejandro said that if the alert is further elevated from Level 3 to Level 4, then the coverage of the mandatory evacuation will also be raised to eight-10 kilometers from six kilometers. The total number of projected affected individuals who will be affected will increase to 139,000 and those who need to be evacuated will also go up.
“Kasi ang sabi sa atin ng Phivolcs [Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology] may tatlong linggo silang window na tinitignan upang obserbahan ang behavior ng Kanlaon at doon natin malalaman kung itataas, ibababa o maintain ‘yung Alert Level 3 at six-kilometer PDZ (It’s because the Phivolcs told us that they are looking at a three-week window to observe the behavior of Kanlaon and that’s the time that we will determine whether there is a need to raise, lower or maintain the Alert Level 3 and six-kilometer PDZ),” Alejandro said.
The threat of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) that may trigger isolated rains also pose the threat of lahar, according to the OCD official.
"Kailangan po alisin ang mga communities na nasa mga river channels na pwedeng daanan ng lahar. So ang hazard map naman is guiding us para po magkaroon ng preparation (We need to evacuate communities that are near the river channels which may be struck by lahar. The hazard map is guiding us for the preparation)," Alejandro said.
Meanwhile, the OCD and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) have distributed P1.8 million worth of relief assistance to the affected families.
However, the government continues to address the immediate needs of the evacuees including food packs, water, hygiene kits, medicines, face masks, and sleeping kits among others.