By CESAR JOLITO III
After nearly seven months of living in evacuation centers, more than 1,500 residents displaced by the eruption of Kanlaon Volcano in Negros Occidental’s La Castellana have finally been allowed to return to their homes.
“This is a hopeful day for our evacuees who have long endured cramped and difficult conditions. They are finally going home,” La Castellana Mayor Añejo Nicor said.
The decampment began yesterday morning, involving 471 families, or 1,548 individuals, who had been taking shelter in evacuation facilities since the volcanic eruption prompted mass evacuations due to Kanlaon’s volcanic unrest since December last year.
However, 27 families belonging to the vulnerable sector remain at the evacuation centers.
These residents, mostly from Barangays Biak na Bato, Masulog, and Cabagna-an, live within Kanlaon’s four-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ).
Nicor explained that the local government is awaiting official confirmation from the provincial government regarding plans and responsibility for establishing a permanent relocation site for these families.
“Until there is a safe and appropriate relocation area for them, we cannot allow these families to return to their former homes, which remain at risk,” he added.
Earlier, 4,160 individuals, or 1,281 families, in La Castellana and the cities of La Carlota and Bago, as well as Negros Oriental’s Canlaon City, will now be permitted to return home following the volcano’s downgrade to Alert Level 2, signaling a general decline in volcanic activity after nearly seven months of heightened unrest.
Local government units (LGUs) have begun gradual repatriation efforts but are also instructed to maintain readiness in case volcanic activity escalates again.
Meanwhile, 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.
Monitoring
The Task Force Kanlaon will closely monitor the safe return of evacuees to their homes outside the four-kilometer PDZ, the Office of Civil Defense in Western Visayas (OCD-6) said.
OCD-6 Director and Task Force Kanlaon concurrent chair Raul Fernandez said a resolution from the Sangguniang Panlungsod or Sangguniang Bayan in localities affected by the volcano unrest is required to allow evacuees to return home.
The OCD in Negros Island Region aims to start decampment within this week, with Canlaon City targeting sending home 1,791 families, or over 1,400 individuals.
The Incident Management Team will conduct psycho-social assessments and briefings for IDPs.
Fernandez said he couldn’t confirm if financial assistance will be provided to returning evacuees.
Checkpoints will remain in place to ensure no one enters the four-kilometer PDZ, and residents are advised to remain vigilant despite the lowered alert level.
Meanwhile, with the decreased alert level, eight public schools located within the six-kilometer extended danger zone have been cleared to reopen.
These include Pula National High School and elementary schools in Canlaon City’s Barangays Matagbak, Concepcion Palmares and Minabuntod; as well as Cabagna-an High School and public schools in Barangays Mananawin, Old Fabrica and Cabagna-an in La Castellana./CJ, WDJ