DUMAGUETE CITY – Canlaon City in Negros Oriental is laying down measures to ensure the safe return of evacuees to their homes after eight months of staying in shelters in the aftermath of Mount Kanlaon's eruption last December.

“We are now meeting at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to map out a smooth departure of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from evacuation camps to their respective barangays within the Permanent Danger Zone of the volcano,” EOC information officer Seth Cabanas Bariga said on Wednesday.

This came after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) downgraded Kanlaon's alert level from 3 (magmatic unrest / high level of volcanic unrest) to 2 (moderate level of volcanic unrest) on Tuesday night.

Bariga said this means that residents beyond the four-kilometer Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) of the volcano could now return home after staying in evacuation camps since the volcano's eruption on Dec. 9, 2024.

The Phivolcs advisory said communities within the PDZ are still under threat of possible steam or phreatic explosions and magmatic eruptions that could be life-threatening.

The EOC is estimating the earliest guided return of IDPs early Thursday, to be transported in vehicles provided by the local government and with the supervision of local authorities, Bariga said.

He said 1,791 families were initially identified as allowed to return home, while 45 other families will remain in evacuation centers.

City officials visited the evacuation centers on Wednesday to inform the IDPs of the latest development, while also identifying which sites have to be closed once vacated. (PNA)