MORE than P273.7 million worth of humanitarian aid has been distributed to families affected by the continuing volcanic activity of Mount Kanlaon in Negros Island, data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) showed.
Monitoring by the DSWD’s Disaster Response Operations Management, Information and Communication (DROMIC) showed that as of yesterday morning, a total of 22,712 families or 89,742 persons have been affected in 30 barangays in regions VI (Western Visayas) and VII (Central Visayas), including 2,495 families or 7,986 persons who are taking shelter in 20 evacuation centers and 3,727 families or 11,973 persons temporarily staying with their relatives or friends.
Of the P273.7 million worth of aid that has been distributed, P169 million came from DSWD, P32.4 million from local government units (LGUs), P33.65 million from non-government organizations (NGOs), and P38 million from other private partners.
Since the eruption of Kanlaon last December, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has raised the volcanic alert level to three, which means that the volcano is in a state of magmatic unrest, with currently increased chances of short-lived, moderately explosive eruptions that could generate life-threatening volcanic hazards.
Last May 13, Kanlaon had another moderately explosive eruption at its summit crater, which resulted in a greyish voluminous plume rising approximately 4.5 kilometers above the vent before drifting to the southwest.
Audible rumbling sounds of the eruption were reported in Barangay Pula in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental and in La Castellana in Negros Occidental while incandescent pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) descended and large ballistic fragments have been thrown around the crater within a few hundred meters that caused burning of vegetation near the volcano summit.
Thin ashfall has also been reported in Barangays Cubay, San Miguel, Yubo and Ara-al in la Carlota City; barangays Ilijan and Binubuhan in Bago City; and barangays Biak-na-Bato, Sag-ang, and Mansalanao in and La Castellana, all in Negros Occidental.
