Canlaon City needs help, too–OCD
BACOLOD CITY—With more attention focused on Negros Occidental where most residents displaced by last Monday’s eruption of Mt. Kanlaon are found, Canlaon City in Negros Oriental also needs help.
According to the the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD), the city is facing “urgent humanitarian crisis,” with forced evacuations and depleted local resources.
In a report on Friday, the OCD said Canlaon has announced it could only sustain support for its internally displaced persons for a period of three to four days.
“Local officials are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of residents and are calling for immediate national support to address the urgent needs of those affected,” the OCD said.
It added that the city’s Quick Response Fund was already depleted, impacting their ability to provide necessary support to displaced residents.
The current conditions were further complicated by low signal bandwidth in the city, which was hindering communication and coordination efforts, the OCD added.
Evacuees
As of Saturday, at least 1,136 families with 3,726 individuals were staying in the different evacuation centers in Canlaon, according to Mayor Jose Chubasco Cardenas.
While the province of Negros Oriental intends to assist Canlaon, it faces challenges due to the policy governing the declaration of a state of calamity at the provincial level since only one city in the province is currently affected by the eruption.
The situation in Canlaon remains critical as the community faces numerous challenges arising from the ongoing volcanic activity, the OCD said.
Among the immediate needs for Canlaon include food, water, shelter, health services, sanitation and transportation.
The Canlaon city government, on its social media page, also specifically called for donations of essential items such as large cooking pots (kaldero), large pans (kawa), and milk for evacuees.
“To ensure proper accounting and equitable distribution to all evacuation camps, we kindly request that all donations be checked in at the Incident Command Post located at the Canlaon City Tourism Office,” the local government said.
“For further inquiries or assistance, please contact 0965-6643200,” it added.
Mt. Kanlaon, which straddles the cities of Bago, La Carlota and San Carlos and the towns of Murcia and La Castellana in Negros Occidental and Canlaon City in Negros Oriental, erupted on Dec. 9.
The eruption resulted in massive ashfall that rained on most localities at the foot of the volcano, traces of which were also reported as far as the provinces of Guimaras and Iloilo.
President Marcos on Friday assured the public that the government would step up its response to help those affected by the calamity.
The target was to evacuate and help 84,000 residents living within the 6-kilometer radius from the main crater and the eruptive center of Mt. Kanlaon
As of Friday, around 16,000 people in the two Negros provinces, but mostly from Negros Occidental, were given shelter in different evacuation centers after the implementing mandatory evacuation recommended by state volcanologists, amid a possibility that it could still erupt again.
The OCD said mandatory evacuation continued on Saturday for the remaining residents in La Castellana town and San Carlos City in Negros Occidental and Canlaon City who live within the 6-kilometer expanded danger zone.
“We strongly urge everyone in these areas to evacuate immediately and follow the directives of authorities. Your safety is the top priority,” the OCD said in an advisory on Saturday.
Gov. Eugenio Lacson of Negros Occidental, which has now been placed in a state of calamity, earlier appealed for assistance for his province as it continued to attend to the needs of its residents that were evacuated from the danger zone.
No human zone
The Philippine National Police, meanwhile, was set to present an implementation plan to enforce a “no human activity inside the 6-km permanent danger zone (PDZ)” while concerned agencies would present their evacuation plans.
Strict enforcement of the 6-km PDZ will be maintained, allowing farming and livelihood activities only during the morning as individuals will need to return to evacuation centers at night.
The Catholic Church has also activated the One Negros Sub-Cluster Humanitarian Team to coordinate aid to the evacuees, according to San Carlos City Bishop Gerardo Alminaza.
The team is composed of the dioceses of Bacolod, San Carlos, Kabankalan and Dumaguete.
“Rapid assessment teams are being deployed in areas affected by the Kanlaon eruption on Negros Island,” Alminaza said.
