The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) is preparing for the eventuality of a more destructive eruption of Mount Kanlaon in Negros Island, after a series of phreatic eruptions in recent months.
In the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay, OCD Administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno says if Kanlaon’s alert level is raised to 4, more than 90,000 individuals will have to be evacuated.
“Kahit po ako ay nao-overwhelm diyan. Hindi naman lahat pupunta sa evacuation center, but presumably, around half of that, or nasa 40,000 plus, might go to evacuation centers,” he said.
“The others will go to relatives and friends. Ang maganda naman, in the spirit of bayanihan, ‘yung ibang bayan na hindi affected, willing sila to accommodate,” Nepomuceno added.
Nepomuceno said they are closely monitoring the activity of Kanlaon, which has had a series of eruptions in recent months.
He said they are also coordinating with Phivolcs on the possibilities of a more destructive eruption.
“Tinanong namin ang Phivolcs, sasabog ba o hindi? Pwedeng sumabog violently, ‘yung delikado, ‘yun ‘yung sana ‘wag mangyari,” he said.
“Pangalawang klase ng eruption na pwede mangyari, ‘yung mas gentle na eruption na parang Mayon lang na dahan-dahan lumalabas ‘yung magma, ‘yun ang pangalawang scenario,” he added.
The third scenario, Nepomuceno said, is no eruption at all.
“Sana ‘wag na, parang milagro,” he said.
But Nepomuceno said the government is ready to respond in case Kanlaon will have more violent eruptions in the future.
Meanwhile, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has ordered the evacuation of its research facility in La Granja, Negros Occidental following the eruption of Mount Kanlaon earlier today.
The facility has experienced heavy ashfall.
“We recently activated our SRA Disaster Response Team headed by SRA Board Member David Sanson and we are on alert, particularly ensuring the safety of our employees,” said SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona in a statement.
“I ordered the evacuation of our research facility in La Granja, La Castellana in Negros Occidental, with a skeleton crew left behind to secure the facility. All our vehicles are ready to deploy when requested by the [local government units],” Azcona added.
SRA is still checking the effect of the latest Kanlaon eruption in sugar plantations in Negros Island.
During Kanlaon’s earlier eruptions, the SRA said ashfall causes early maturity for the canes, which possibly affects production of sugarcanes in the island.
For now, the agency is focused on ensuring the safety of their staff on the ground.
“We have regrouped our disaster response teams and we are closely monitoring the situation in Mt. Kanlaon. We have relief supplies in place if and when needed and we have also allocated some P4 million for other emergency supplies,” said SRA Board Member Dave Sanson. (ABS-CBN News)