Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson is studying the possibility of allowing evacuees to go home amid Kanlaon Volcano’s continuing restlessness.
“What we really need now is divine intervention, a miracle that Kanlaon will just, all of a sudden, calm down and rest,” Lacson said during his first press conference for this year yesterday.
Lacson said evacuees have become tired and weary staying at the evacuation sites since Kanlaon’s explosive eruption on December 9 last year.
He will convene with the Office of Civil Defense in Negros Island Region (OCD-NIR) to discuss plans for the decampment of evacuees.
The latest data from the OCD showed that, as of Wednesday, January 1, at least 12,043 families composed of 46,259 individuals were affected by the eruption.
A total of 4,387 families or 14,321 residents in Western and Central Visayas are currently staying in 34 evacuation centers.
At least 2,195 families or 6,987 people are temporarily staying with their relatives.
The majority of the evacuation centers are in La Castellana town with 11, Bago City with seven, La Carlota City with five, and Negros Oriental’s Canlaon City with 10.
Twenty-eight local government units from the two regions were affected by the ash fall from Kanlaon, the OCD reported.
Meanwhile, to address the medical needs of the evacuees, the Department of Health in NIR deployed 140 healthcare personnel, including six physicians, 43 nurses, 77 other medical staff, and 14 technical staff, to provide adequate medical attention amidst challenging conditions.
Aid supply running low
The supply of food for the evacuees affected by the eruption is running low, according to the OCD-NIR.
OCD-NIR director Donato Sermeno III said that although supplies are depleting, they expect more assistance to arrive.
He added that workshops have been conducted with the national government to prepare for the needs of evacuees in the next 30 days.
In Negros Occidental, it is estimated that the distribution of hot meals at evacuation camps will only continue until Monday, January 6.
Although the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) still has plenty of food packs available, some evacuees have expressed a desire to eat meals other than canned sardines.
DSWD records show that, as of Wednesday, 2,658 families remain in evacuation centers in Negros Occidental, while 1,636 families are still in evacuation centers in Canlaon City.
According to Sermeno, if Kanlaon escalates to Alert Level 5, affected areas will require billions of pesos in funding from the national government.
Classes still suspended
At least 49,577 students in 88 public schools have shifted to alternative delivery mode of learning following Kanlaon’s eruption last month, data from the Department of Education showed yesterday.
These include 17,642 students from 30 schools in the La Carlota City Schools Division, and 31,935 students in 58 schools under the Negros Occidental Schools Division.
Face-to-face classes were still suspended yesterday until Friday, January 3, in La Carlota City and the towns of Moises Padilla and La Castellana.
Meanwhile, La Carlota Mayor Rex Jalando-on has issued an order suspending in-person classes at all levels in all public schools within the city on Friday, January 3, until further notice.
This directive comes in response to the ongoing volcanic activities at Kanlaon.
Jalando-on directs all teaching personnel to implement a blended learning delivery modality through a combination of online platforms and other remote learning tools as part of the blended learning approach.
Another eruption?
Meanwhile, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) warned of the possibility that Kanlaon will erupt again.
Mariton Antonia Bornas, chief of the Phivolcs Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division, said Kanlaon exhibited heightened activity since its magmatic eruption last month.
“We have entered a period of magmatic unrest following the December eruption, as evidenced by the new magma content in the ash and persistent ash venting,” Bornas said.
She said the continuing unrest suggests that affected residents could face days to months of uncertainty before any explosive or effusive eruptions occur.
“The volcanic activity is unpredictable. We have no handle on timelines. It is the volcano that determines this,” she added./ With Jen Baylon / WDJ