Negros Task Force allows daytime entry to Kanlaon’s danger zone
BACOLOD CITY—The Regional Task Force Kanlaon has decided to allow the entry into the 6-kilometer extended danger zone (EDZ) of Mt. Kanlaon from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. so that residents can tend to their fields and visit their homes.
Donato Sermeno III, director of the Office of the Civil Defense Negros Island Region who also leads the regional task force, said the 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. entry period would be open to farmers and family heads, currently housed in shelters, to attend to their crops, livestock and visit their houses within the EDZ.
These residents, who have been evacuated since the volcano erupted on Dec. 9 last year, had been allowed to return to their houses during the day after the volcano calmed down early this year. But the ban was reimposed following Kanlaon’s moderately explosive eruption at 2:55 a.m. on May 13.
The eruption lasted five minutes and emitted voluminous ash that hit 51 barangays in five cities and nine towns not just on Negros Island but also on nearby Panay island.
The EDZ residents were warned to remain on alert during their daytime visits as the behavior of Kanlaon Volcano, which remains under alert Level 3, was still unpredictable.
Relocation sites
The Negros Occidental Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, which held its second quarter meeting at the Capitol in Bacolod City on May 16, discussed the proposed establishment of permanent evacuation centers and resettlement sites for the residents affected by the volcano’s unrest, Sermeno said.
He said they approved La Castellana’s proposed evacuation sites in the town’s Barangays Talaptap and Lalagsan but the owner of the Lalagsan targeted site did not seem to want to sell the property.
La Carlota City, on the other hand, was asked to look for other relocation sites since its proposed sites in Barangays Haguimit, San Miguel and La Granja could be affected by pyroclastic density current, which are hot and fast-moving mixtures of volcanic particles and gas, that would be released by Mt. Kanlaon.
Bago City, meanwhile, has proposed a relocation site identified as a tsunami-prone area, he said.
Sermeno said the affected local governments would have to apply for funding from the Department of Budget and Management for their relocation projects.
Coordinated approach
The National Task Force Kanlaon led by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., meanwhile, held its inaugural meeting at Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo here on May 8.
Teodoro said the gathering marked a significant step toward establishing a more coordinated and proactive approach to disaster management on Negros Island following the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon last year.
A central part of the meeting was the development of the Kanlaon Recovery and Development Plan (KRDP), envisioned as a blueprint for rebuilding communities and strengthening resilience in affected areas.
A working draft of the KRDP will be submitted to the national government before the final budget call, enabling the plan to be presented to President Marcos ahead of the fiscal year 2026 budget submission deadline on July 31.
