By CESAR JOLITO III

A tent city established at Barangay 3 in Negros Occidental’s Himamaylan City, which once housed families displaced by volcanic activity, will be temporarily dismantled but remains available for future emergencies.

Raul Fernandez, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Western Visayas Director and Regional Task Force Kanlaon chairperson, said more than 300 family shelter tents in the area have now been officially turned over to the Himamaylan City government.

“Although the tents are being taken down, the area remains ready for use should another calamity strike,” Fernandez clarified, noting that the land where the tent city was built is owned by the city government.

The tarpaulins used in the shelters were also donated for local use.

Fernandez explained that based on the memorandum of understanding between OCD and the city government, the tent city was originally set up as a contingency evacuation center in case Alert Level 4 was raised over Kanlaon Volcano.

However, the volcano has since calmed, prompting the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology to downgrade Kanlaon’s status to Alert Level 2.

Meanwhile, national and regional disaster officials are now focusing on the establishment of a permanent relocation site for 81 families currently living within the four-kilometer permanent danger zone, particularly in La Castellana town and Canlaon City.

“Relocation is our next major step. We are preparing a safer, long-term site for those affected,” Fernandez said, emphasizing that the goal is to provide a permanent solution should the volcano erupt again in the future./CJ, WDJ