Western Visayas’ Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) approved Resolution 7, recommending the declaration of a four-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ) set by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) in Mt. Kanlaon as a strict protection zone (SPZ).
“Under the law, when this particular area will be categorized as a strict protection zone, meaning to say there will be no human activity except for research and Indigenous People cultural practices,” Melissa Banias, chief of the operations section of the Office of Civil Defense, said during the RDRRMC full council special meeting in Iloilo City on Tuesday, October 22, where they unanimously approved the resolution.
The resolution, addressed to the Protected Area Management Board of the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park (PAMB/MKNP), said that the Phivolcs Kanlaon Volcano Alerts Scheme states that even in normal conditions, perennial hazards may occur suddenly and without warning within the radius of the four-kilometer PDZ.
The area is currently in the marine protection zone of the MKNP.
In an interview yesterday, RDRRMC chairperson Raul Fernandez said the PAMB has been waiting for the resolution to declare the SPZ.
With the approval of the resolution, Fernandez said, they are now discussing strategies that would involve the relocation of families living within the PDZ.
Data from the MKNP PAMB showed that more or less 60 households are within the PDZ, based on the PAMB map, although the local government unit of La Castellana accounted for 15 families — 10 in Barangay Masulog and five in Barangay Biak na Bato.
Ten families, or 34 individuals, from La Castellana town are taking temporary shelter in two evacuation centers.
He said they could not just relocate them until a permanent relocation site is identified.
“What we will do is we will help La Castellana to temporarily house the affected families until such time that we put in place the relocation area,” Fernandez said.
During the meeting, Banias reported that the first demarcation flag indicating the four-kilometer PDZ was installed in Barangay Biak na Bato in La Castellana, Negros Occidental on October 8.
The eruption of Mt. Kanlaon volcano on June 3 caused P245.74 million in damage and losses as of October 1, based on data from the Department of Agriculture.
The assistance provided by various government agencies, non-government organizations, and local government units reached P44.67 million. (PNA)