Community kitchens resume operations for Kanlaon evacuees
BACOLOD CITY—The provincial government of Negros Occidental resumed delivering supplies to its community kitchens on Tuesday to provide meals for residents who were forced to flee their homes due to Mt. Kanlaon’s unrest.
The displaced residents are housed in evacuation centers in the cities of Bago and La Carlota, and the town of La Castellana.
Provincial administrator Rayfrando Diaz said the provincial government had allocated P5.8 million to feed an estimated 2,000 evacuees in the province for 30 days.
According to Diaz, this is the provincial government’s “sixth wave” of food assistance for the evacuees since the displacement of residents from their communities began last year due to the volcanic activity.
The initiative will be fully funded by the provincial government as the remaining balance from the P50 million previously provided by the national government is no longer sufficient, he explained.
The remaining P2.7 million from the national government’s assistance will be used for other initiatives, Diaz added.
Alert still up
Donato Sermeno III, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense in Negros Island Region, reported assisting 4,156 evacuees as of Monday, but noted that his office was still validating figures.
In Negros Occidental, La Castellana currently hosts 1,463 evacuees; La Carlota City attends to 225; while Bago City has 81. Canlaon City in Negros Oriental province is assisting 2,379 evacuees.
Sermeno noted that the “red alert” status remains in effect in communities around Mt. Kanlaon due to the prevailing alert level 3 issued by government seismologists, which means the volcano is displaying intensified unrest and magmatic unrest.
Disaster response teams are also monitoring for possible lahar flow, he added.
