By JEN BAYLON
La Castellana Mayor Rhummyla Nicor-Mangilimutan has sought the assistance of the Bacolod City government to lobby the national government for the relocation of residents in the town living within the six-kilometer danger zone of Kanlaon Volcano.
During her visit to the city government, Mangilimutan discussed her proposal, which includes plans of the municipal government to purchase land to accommodate more than 2,300 families currently residing inside Kanlaon’s permanent danger zone.
The proposal also outlines financial assistance for these families to construct new homes.
Mangilimutan has requested Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez to consider adopting a plan for potential evacuations should Kanlaon erupt again, a request that the city mayor has also agreed to support.
The city government assured its commitment to support this initiative by advocating for the proposal with President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
The Negros Occidental provincial government is also expected to provide funding for the construction of housing for 36 families currently within the four-kilometer danger zone.
Contingency plan
La Castellana town has a contingency plan for the upcoming midterm elections in case Alert Level 4 is raised at Kanlaon, the Commission on Elections in Negros Island Region (Comelec-NIR) said.
Comelec-NIR Director Lionel Marco Castillano said that through contingency plans, they are allowed to set up polling centers in areas outside the 10-kilometer danger zone, but still within La Castellana.
Castillano said the scheme submitted by the La Castellana Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office has been adopted by Comelec-NIR.
Earlier, Castillano said Mangilimutan does not want to transfer affected residents to the tent city being put up in Negros Occidental’s Himamaylan City.
She wants them to evacuate to other barangays but only within the town.
Comelec-NIR also needs to establish its own contingency plans on where to set up polling centers for the May 12 midterm elections, as this will need funding and approval from the Comelec en banc./JB, WDJ