BACOLOD CITY – The Office of Civil Defense-Western Visayas vowed to strictly uphold the six-kilometer Permanent Danger Zone around Kanlaon Volcano.
RAUL Fernandez (center), regional director of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD)-Western Visayas and chairman of the Regional Inter-Agency Coordinating Cell (RIACC), speaks in a media briefing about Kanlaon Volcano at the Social Hall of the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City on Wednesday, Jan. 8. With him at left is Jan Kristofer Fetalsana from the Department of Social Welfare and Development. (Glazyl Masculino)
OCD-Western Visayas Regional Director Raul Fernandez, chairman of the Regional Inter-Agency Coordinating Cell, in a media briefing at the Social Hall of the Provincial Capitol here on Wednesday, Jan. 8, suggested moving the evacuees in Negros Occidental to Himamaylan City which is beyond the PDZ and being set up as a tent city to accommodate displaced residents from La Castellana town.
Approximately 4,000 evacuees living outside the PDZ in Bago City and La Castellana are expected to return home.
The return of evacuees outside the PDZ has started in Barangay Ilijan, Bago City, and Barangay Sag-ang, La Castellana. Their movement is carefully being monitored.
Despite a decrease in sulfur dioxide emissions, the threat remains high, according to Fernandez.
He said that people must be vigilant and prepared as the volcano could erupt any time and trigger pyroclastic flows that can spread rapidly with little warning.
Evacuation efforts, he said, must balance speed with order to avoid chaos. The OCD is actively working with other local government units to manage resources and ensure evacuees’ safety.
“We are not arbitrarily imposing restrictions, we are simply acting to protect lives,” Fernandez said.
Although the evacuation centers are under significant stress, the focus is on protecting lives while managing logistical challenges, he said.
“We have limitations, but we will deliver as much as possible,” Fernandez said, as he urged everyone to be resilient amid the challenges.
As of Jan. 7, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Western Visayas said that 12,226 families or 46,787 individuals in 26 barangays in Negros Occidental and Canlaon City in Negros Oriental have been affected by the Kanlaon eruption.
The DSWD has provided over P103 million in assistance with standby funds of more than P244 million for further relief efforts.