Negros LGUs struggle to aid Kanlaon evacuees
BACOLOD CITY—Local government units (LGUs) in Negros Island Region are struggling to care for more than 6,000 evacuees who have been displaced by Mt. Kanlaon’s unrest, as about P203 million in national government aid promised to them in May has yet to be released.
Donato Sermeno III, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) regional director, confirmed on Tuesday that the funds from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had yet to be released to the local governments of La Carlota City, Himamaylan City and La Castellana town in Negros Occidental, and Canlaon City in Negros Oriental.
Sermeno said the LGUs have been told to individually inquire with the DBM regarding the aid fund’s release.
Restlessness
“Canlaon City and La Castellana have no more funds to sustain their evacuee operations,” he said.
The prolonged displacement is leading to restlessness among the evacuees who have been living in the evacuation centers since December last year when Kanlaon Volcano erupted.
In La Castellana, 89 evacuees left their temporary shelter to return to their homes in communities within the prohibited 6-kilometer expanded danger zone around Kanlaon, local officials said.
“Only 70 percent of [residents who left] have returned to their evacuation center,” John de Asis, head of the La Castellana Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said on Tuesday.
It is difficult to convince the remaining evacuees, who are staying with relatives outside the danger zone, to return to the evacuation center due to living conditions there, he said.
De Asis said more funding support from the national government would boost efforts of the La Castellana government in providing essential needs for the evacuees like food, medical care, and educational aid, hence, keeping them from going home and being exposed to the dangers of a restive Kanlaon.
The Negros Occidental provincial government has so far been providing meals for evacuees in the province.
In May, then OCD Administrator Ariel Nepomuceno said that President Marcos had approved additional funding of P203,881,186 for local governments at risk from Kanlaon’s unrest.
Of this amount, La Carlota will get P63,097,000; Himamaylan, P62,539,736; La Castellana, P48,521,100; and Canlaon City, P29,723,350.
Currently, 3,293 evacuees remain in evacuation centers in La Castellana, 233 in La Carlota, and 81 in Bago City in Negros Occidental, and 2,425 in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental, Sermeno said.
Consultation
Representatives of government agencies that are part of the National and Regional Task Force Kanlaon held a consultation and dialogue in Bacolod City on Monday to address the impact of Kanlaon’s situation on local governments surrounding the volcano.
Among the topics discussed were La Castellana’s proposal for evacuees to return to homes along the highway located beyond 5.2 km of the extended danger zone, instead of the full 6 km.
Government geologists, however, insist that no human activity should be allowed within the 6-km danger zone, but they are leaving the final decision on this matter to concerned local governments, Sermeno said.
Also discussed was the site verification for permanent relocation sites, with the provincial government prepared to purchase some 20 hectares in Barangay Talaptap in La Castellana.
The delay in the DBM’s release of the P203-million aid was also tackled during Monday’s dialogue, including the formulation of a Kanlaon Recovery and Development Plan that is scheduled to be completed in November.
