BACOLOD CITY – The city government has extended P1-million worth of relief assistance to residents of La Castellana in Negros Occidental affected by the eruption of Kanlaon Volcano.
Mayor Albee Benitez visited the town on Friday, June 7, along with his son, Mayor Javier Miguel of Victorias City in Negros Occidental, to deliver the assistance to the evacuees.

BACOLOD Mayor Alfredo ‘Albee’ Benitez, his son, Victorias Mayor Javier Miguel, Dr. Anna Pornan (second from right), head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), and La Castellana Mayor Rhummyla Nicor-Mangilimutan (right) visit an evacuation center for residents affected by the Kanlaon Volcano eruption in La Castellana on Friday, June 7. (Photo courtesy of Bacolod PIO)
According to Atty. Caesar Distrito, Benitez’s spokesperson, the relief assistance include rice, canned goods, hygiene kit sets, blankets, bath towels, mosquito nets, blue water jug, and 26,000 liters of domestic water.
Distrito said that the city government wanted to let the people of La Castellana know that in these trying times, they can rely on the people here.
He said that Benitez also wanted to personally assess the situation and see the extent of damage to determine the help that this city can still extend to the victims of the eruption.
Benitez and his son, accompanied by La Castellana Mayor Rhummyla Nicor-Mangilimutan, with Dr. Anna Pornan, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), drove to the town, and visited Barangay Biak na Bato, the area hardest hit by lahar or mudflow last week.
They also visited one of the evacuation centers to check the situation of the evacuees.
Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez turned over P100,000 worth of financial assistance and water to the affected residents of La Castellana.
More than 1,000 residents, particularly those living on the foot of the volcano, were evacuated due to the threat of lahar from occasional rains.