City’s plans for evacuation already drawn up
By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
Bago City Mayor Nicholas Yulo is currently taking the dangers posed by the Kanlaon volcano seriously and is wary of any sudden increase of volcanic unrest.
In an interview yesterday morning, Yulo said the volcano had already been acting up even before the pandemic began in 2020.
He said the Bago City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) had already drawn up plans since 2020 for contingencies in case Kanlaon erupts.
The city mayor is specifically worried that the volcano will suddenly be placed under “Alert Level 3” which he pointed out that a volcanic eruption may be underway.
He took the example of the eruption of the Taal volcano in Batangas back in January of 2020, wherein from Alert Level 1, the volcano’s alert status was suddenly increased to Level 3.
“Since then we’ve been drawing up plans, in fact last week nag [hold kami] meeting with the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and then ang aton contingencies plans were reiterated,” Yulo said.
He said there are scenarios that the volcano’s lava and volcanic material could reach as far as the city’s poblacion area.
“May mga worst case scenario kita, so we’ve drawn up contingency plans for it,” Yulo said.
As far as preparations are concerned, the mayor said the city can only prepare so much, but the eventuality is they won’t be able to cover all of it.
However, he pointed out at least preparations are in place.
Yulo also identified the villages of Ilijan and Mailum as the first to be hit in the event of an eruption.
Bago City was also identified as having the highest number of population affected in the event of an eruption.
Previously, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) director Dr. Renato Solidum advised local government units (LGUs) surrounding the Kanlaon volcano in Negros Occidental to review their disaster preparedness plans after they recorded increased activity at the volcano.
Among the other LGUs that have heeded Phivolcs’ advice include the towns of Pontevedra, Moises Padilla and La Castellana, and the cities of San Carlos, Himamaylan and La Carlota.
As of August 9, Kanlaon still remains under an Alert Level 1 status and entry to the four-kilometer permanent danger zone remains prohibited./DGB, WDJ