LEGAZPI CITY — The city mayor here on Monday directed the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) and the barangay captains of the five villages covered by the 8-kilometer danger zone at the foot of Mt. Mayon to forcibly evacuate all the residents in the areas after the volcano spewed a huge volume of ash at exactly 12:45 pm Monday.
The phreatic and volcanic eruption prompted the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) to raise Alert Level 4 over Mayon.
The five barangays covered by the extended 8-kilometer danger zone are the villages of Padang, Bonga, Mabinit, Matanag and Buyoan with a total of 2,686 families residing, equivalent to 12,957 people.
Rosal first ordered a preemptive evacuation last January 16 due to the continuous phreatic eruption of the volcano.
On January 17, he directed the Office of the City Social Welfare and Development (CSWDO) and CDRRMC to decongest all the city’s evacuation centers to prevent the spread of diseases.
On January 18, the mayor ordered the decampment of evacuees after Department of Science and Technology Undersecretary Renato Solidum told Rosal that it was safe for the residents to go back to the areas within the city’s 8-km extended danger zone even if Mt. Mayon remained under Alert Level 3. (PNA)
