By CESAR JOLITO III
More than 4,000 evacuees will now be permitted to return home within Kanlaon Volcano’s six-kilometer extended danger zone following the volcano’s downgrade to Alert Level 2, signaling a general decline in volcanic activity after nearly seven months of heightened unrest.
Donato Sermeno III, director of the Office of Civil Defense in the Negros Island Region (OCD-NIR), confirmed that 1,281 families — or 4,160 individuals — staying in temporary shelters in Negros Occidental’s La Castellana town and the cities of La Carlota and Bago, as well as Negros Oriental’s Canlaon City, are set to return to their homes after more than seven months since Kanlaon’s eruptive unrest in December 2024.
Sermeno said the Incident Management Team has already been deployed to affected localities surrounding Kanlaon to begin consultations and formulate a demobilization plan for internally displaced persons.
“It is important to assess the needs of families returning to their homes to ensure a safe and smooth transition,” Sermeno said.
Twenty-two families from Bago City are being permanently relocated due to geographic risks outside the four-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ).
With the alert downgrade from Alert Level 3, local government units (LGUs) have begun gradual repatriation efforts but are also instructed to maintain readiness in case volcanic activity escalates again.
Meanwhile, Sermeno said about 300 individuals composed of 103 families whose homes are located within the four-kilometer PDZ must remain in evacuation centers.
Of the number, 45 families are from Canlaon City and 36 from La Castellana town.
The return of evacuees to their homes will be decided after the conduct of additional risk assessments and consultations with local and national agencies, Sermeno said.
While the final decision to allow return rests with LGUs, the OCD-NIR strongly recommends that those within the PDZ remain in evacuation centers for their safety.
Warning
Dr. Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), clarified that despite the downgrade to Alert Level 2, Kanlaon is still not at normal levels of activity.
“We’ve observed a general decline in volcanic activity — including fewer earthquakes and reduced sulfur dioxide emissions,” Bacolcol said.
Still, Phivolcs maintains strict restrictions within the four-kilometer PDZ, warning the public not to return to the area just yet.
Under Alert Level 2, residents within the PDZ should remain evacuated due to the lingering chances of short-lived explosive eruptions and sudden steam-driven or phreatic explosions that can generate life-threatening volcanic hazards such as pyroclastic density currents, ballistic projectiles, rockfalls, and lethal expulsions of volcanic gas.
Bacolcol further noted that if sulfur dioxide emissions consistently drop to around 300 tons per day, and seismic activity stays at five or fewer volcanic quakes per day, Phivolcs may consider lowering the alert level further in the coming weeks.
For now, however, Bacolcol stressed that continued vigilance is needed, especially for communities nearest to the volcano.
Despite the downgrade, Phivolcs warned that the volcano remains under “moderate unrest,” meaning magma is still present beneath the edifice and that hazardous events such as phreatic explosions and pyroclastic flows remain possible.
The four-kilometer PDZ remains off-limits to the public, and residents within that zone are still prohibited from returning.
In an advisory released on Tuesday night, July 29, Phivolcs said Kanlaon showed consistent decreases in volcanic earthquakes, gas emissions, ash activity, and ground deformation since May.
Volcanic quakes at Kanlaon dropped from a maximum of 14 to a minimum of eight per day, Phivolcs reported.
Sulfur dioxide emissions have been reduced by more than half, and no ash plumes have been recorded since early June.
“Decreased degassing at Kanlaon could indicate a pause in the intrusion of, or depletion of volcanic gas in, magma within the shallower levels of the edifice, or the sealing of magmatic gas pathways,” Phivolcs said.
Kanlaon’s last eruptive activity was last May 13./CJ, WDJ