Sound decision; Diaz: Kanlaon-hit evacuees return followed OCD’s guidelines  

Posted by siteadmin
January 14, 2025
Posted in HEADLINE

Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II clarified that the provincial government’s decision to allow some evacuees to go home following Kanlaon Volcano’s explosive eruption was consulted with the three local government units (LGUs).

This comes after the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) on Sunday, January 12, urged the LGUs near Kanlaon to reconsider their decision for the decampment of residents from evacuation centers amid the volcano’s recent activity.

Diaz said their decision followed OCD’s guidelines on allowing evacuees residing outside Kanlaon’s six-kilometer expanded danger zone to decamp.

More than 4,000 evacuees in Bago City and La Castellana town returned to their homes last week, OCD Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno reported.

The OCD’s appeal came after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) warned of the possibility of another eruption at Kanlaon, indicating heightened ground deformation.

Earlier, a total of 622 families, composed of 1,969 residents, returned to their homes in La Castellana, Mayor Rhummyla Nicor Mangilimutan said.

At least 461 evacuees in Bago City also went home on January 8, Merijene Ortizo, Bago City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management officer, said.

Nepomuceno said the situation at the volcano remained too risky.

“We must take anticipatory actions to prepare for the worst-case scenario of a more violent eruption. Achieving zero casualties is our utmost priority,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

Nepomuceno said OCD takes anticipatory actions to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

“Achieving zero casualties is our utmost priority,” he said in a statement.

“We are constrained to sound the alarm and urge local officials to reassess this decision. The safety of our citizens must come first,” he pointed out.

Nepomuceno appealed to all evacuees within the six-kilometer extended danger zone, to take this situation seriously and evacuate immediately.

“No responders will attempt to get inside the danger zones to execute rescue operations should an eruption occur. It is crucial for everyone’s safety to evacuate immediately,” he said.

Alert Level 3 remains over Kanlaon.

Phivolcs said a drastic reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions — from an average of 5,673 tons per day to just 2,029 tons — has been observed at Kanlaon.

These strongly suggest a sudden pressurization within the volcano, raising the risk of a potential eruption, Nepomuceno said.

“We are strongly concerned about the potential for pyroclastic density currents traveling at speeds of 30 to 600 kilometers per hour. No resident in the danger zone can escape this,” he emphasized./WDJ

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *