By Nanette Guadalquiver | Philippine News Agency
Local government units (LGUs) affected by the eruption of Kanlaon Volcano in Negros Island will soon receive P63 million in additional financial assistance from the Office of the President (OP).
“Parating na rin ’yong karagdagang tulong na pinansiyal na galing kay Pangulong Bongbong Marcos. Iyan ay pirmado na namin lahat, hinihintay na lang natin ’yan. Kailangan talaga alalayan, hindi talaga magiging sapat ’yong pondo ng probinsiya, ng LGUs. Talagang kailangan tulungan rin ng national government,” Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Administrator, Usec. Ariel Nepomuceno said in an interview during his visit to La Carlota City, Negros Occidental Friday.
The volcano’s latest explosive eruption on April 8 brought heavy ashfall that mainly affected several villages in La Carlota City.
The OCD chief said the local chief executives in Negros Island requested the additional amount.
“Ipa-follow up na lang namin ’yong pag-release pabalik dito sa mga nangangailangan nating mga kababayan. Sana ’yon na ’yon, kung kakailanganin pa may assurance naman tayo sa ating Pangulo na dadagdagan niya subalit kailangan nating bigyan ng tamang dokumento ’yan,” he added.
Nepomuceno acknowledged that the affected LGUs have already spent so much for the needs of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) since they were evacuated after the first eruption on Dec. 9 last year.
“Mahaba na, mahigit apat na buwan na tayo nag-operate dito. Talagang nauubusan na rin sila ang pondo,” he said.
Negros Occidental initially received P50-million financial assistance from the OP for the needs of the IDPs.
Mayor Rhummyla Nicor-Mangilimutan of La Castellana, which has the most IDPs in evacuation centers, sent a letter to Malacañang requesting financial assistance to sustain the daily needs of the evacuees.
As of 6:00 p.m. Friday, there were 1,770 families or 5,673 IDPs staying in 14 evacuation centers in Negros Occidental.
These include 1,362 families or 4,264 persons in La Castellana; La Carlota City, 327 families or 1,127 persons; San Carlos City, 59 families or 205 persons; and Bago City, 22 families or 77 persons, data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development showed.
Kanlaon Volcano remains under Alert Level 3 (magmatic unrest), which means that the April 8 eruption “may be followed by similar short-lived explosive eruptions in the short term or even progress to lava eruptions that generate lava flows and lava fountaining activity,” according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
