La Castellana Mayor Rhummyla Nicor Mangilimutan admitted that the local government unit (LGU) will run out of funds if the number of evacuees increases should Alert Level 4 be raised over Kanlaon Volcano.
Mangilimutan, during the meeting with Civil Defense Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno on Wednesday, January 15, said the LGU does not have resources of P15 million per month for the 4,427 residents currently inside evacuation centers.
La Castellana has an annual budget of P355 million, which was also utilized for other services of the municipal government, she said.
The locality has a population of about 84,000.
Mangilimutan wants to know who will take care of the evacuees if they are transferred to a tent city in Negros Occidental’s Himamaylan City.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported that Kanlaon’s explosive eruption affected 12,285 families, composed of 46,922 individuals, in Western and Central Visayas.
On Wednesday, Nepomuceno met with Mangilimutan, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, and several personnel from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) at the provincial capitol.
Nepomuceno said during the meeting that he can’t tell how much longer the affected residents will have to stay in the evacuation centers since Kanlaon is exhibiting signs of a possible eruption.
“We understand the difficulties they are facing and are looking at how their situation can be improved,” he said.
While the OCD would like residents within the six-kilometer danger zone to remain inside the facilities, he understands the pressure on the LGUs from the evacuees who want to go home.
Nepomuceno also recognizes the psychological impact of a lengthy stay in evacuation centers on women and children.
Meanwhile, he said Kanlaon may erupt anytime, based on Phivolcs’ report.
“The national government is ready. We are concerned about how fast we can evacuate 100,000 people. It’s not easy to move them to ensure that no one is killed,” Nepomuceno said.
He added that it is safer for people to heed the warning from authorities as it is for “their own safety.”
“It’s a big logistical challenge which we can do if we are prepared,” he said, stressing that details must be put in place.
“Otherwise, if we are not prepared, it would be a logistical nightmare,” he said./WDJ