LEGAZPI CITY — Albay Second District Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda has appealed for relief assistance and donations for Mayon Volcano evacuees, now housed in government evacuation centers around the province, to augment limited resources of local communities.
Salceda said there’s a need for steady supply of relief goods — food items and drinking water — especially since no one can tell when the calamity would end, as in the past Mayon eruptions when evacuees stayed for months in evacuation centers.
As of January 18, there were 6,973 families or 26,971 persons, housed in evacuation centers based on reports from municipal disaster risk reduction and management offices and the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office.
The evacuees come from identified risk areas around Mt. Mayon. About half of the evacuees come from Camalig and Daraga towns.
Camalig has the largest displaced population of 1,995 families or 7,332 persons, followed by Daraga with 1,384 families or 5,697 persons.
Salceda said should the Alert Level escalates to Alert 4, Camalig would actually need to evacuate some 4,800 more families, since its entire poblacion is within Mayon’s 9-km Permanent Danger Zone.
In the worst Mayon eruption in 1814, records at the National Archives show that over 700 perished, 400 of whom were from Camalig, followed by Budiao with 200, Cagsawa with 100, and Guinobatan with 12.
The Team Albay Youth Organization (TAYO) Inc., a youth group under Salceda’s Albay Second District Office, had already started accepting relief donations for the evacuees.
Together with the Filipino-Chinese communities, TAYO has recently provided psychosocial and relief assistance aside from hygiene kits to 2,949 families to evacuees at the Camalig North Central School, Anoling and Bariw in Camalig; and at the Guinobatan East, West and Binogsacan in Guinobatan.
Donors can contact TAYO Inc., at its address at Door 2, Citispire Bldg., Imelda Roces Avenue, Gogon, Legazpi City, with telephone number 0927 665 4715.
For cash donations, donors may deposit them to the Team Albay Youth Organizations Inc. Metrobank accounr with Account Number: 595-7-59500460-4. For Daraga, donors can contact; Vice Mayor Carlwyn Baldo at 0918 963 7372, and Teresa Bausa at 09392041088. For Camalig, them course their donations through Mayor Ding Baldo, or call 09178500235.
The partial list of evacuees as of January 18 also includes 1,252 families or 4,353 persons from Guinobatan; 565 families or 2,182 persons from Tabaco City; 791 families or 3,056 persons from Malilipot; 215 families or 890 persons from Sto. Domingo; and 811 families or 3,461 persons from Ligao City.
The number of evacuees could grow, depending on the volcano’s condition. It is now at level 3, which volcanologists say could further worsen.
Based on experience, on the average the evacuation period could reach 47 days under Alert Level 2 and 94 days under Alert Level 3, In 2006, the evacuation period lasted 147 days, and in 2009, 185 days.
“We urge and appeal to kind hearted individuals and organizations to please assist our evacuees with their basic necessities so that they can go through this calamity easier, even as Albay’s DNA is resiliency – the Albayano strength of character and knack for survival that have been proven many times over, but not without support from kind individuals and humanitarian groups, as this kind of disaster normally takes longer periods of time,” Salceda appealed.
As in the past, Mayon’s eruption could take weeks or even months, and local governments have to maintain their evacuees in evacuation centers within that period, providing them their basic necessities — primarily food, clean water, health and security requirements — which means they need help. (Johnny C. Nunez/PNA)
