San Carlos, Bago review Kanlaon disaster plans

Both San Carlos City and Bago City have heeded the advice of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) and have began reviewing their disaster preparedness plans due to the increased activity exhibited by the Kanlaon volcano.

Earlier last week, La Castellana also made preparations and identified possible evacuation centers in case of eruption.

San Carlos Mayor Renato Gustilo ordered the barangay leaders of Quezon and Codcod to make all necessary measures in case the situation worsens.

Even though the volcano’s activity seemed to have quieted down for the past few days, Gustilo still encouraged the residents in the two barangays to ensure their readiness at the family level.

The city’s Operations and Warning Division also made a quick visit in the two communities over the weekend.

During the meeting, the teams discussed with concerned barangays the preparation and revisited the evacuation plan presented a few years ago.

The two barangays have laid out their functional transportation, communication capacity, and budget allocation, or lack thereof.

Also discussed in the meeting were high risk sitios, identified evacuation sites, pick-up points, evacuation protocols and other immediate concerns.

BAGO

In Bago, Mary Jane Ortizo head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (DRRMO) said they are also monitoring the volcano’s activities and are releasing daily advisories in order to inform the public.

The Bago CDRRMO has also attended the pre-disaster risk assessment meeting led by the Negros Occidental Provincial DRRMO last week, which was also attended by Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson.

They have also began stocking up on facemasks, food and non-food items.

Ortizo also said they are reviewing their contingency plans and have identified the barangays of Ilijan and Mailom as the first to be affected in the event of a volcanic eruption. The two barangays are located close to Kanlaon and have a combine population of more than 12,000 people.

Ortizo advised the two villages to also review their disaster plans, so that they know where to evacuate.

LA CASTELLANA

Last week, the Municipal Government of La Castellana has also began making preparations in case PHIVOLCS escalate the alert level of the Kanlaon volcano.

The local government has already identified five possible evacuation sites, four of them are public schools, while the fifth is located in Barangay Talaptap.

The barangays of Masulog, Biaknabato, Cabagnaan, and Mansalanao were also identified by the town’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (DRRMO) that will be directly impacted in case the volcano’s alert level escalates.

PHIVOLCS

PHIVOLCS Director Dr. Renato Solidum advised the local government units surrounding the Kanlaon volcano to review their disaster preparedness plans, after the volcano continued to exhibit increasing activity over the past few days.

Solidum said they currently don’t see a need to increase Kanlaon’s Alert Level, however, he emphasized that the local chief executives of every LGUs, especially those who are newly-elected and have just stepped into office, to revisit their disaster preparedness plans.

Kanlaon currently remains under Alert Level 1, and entry inside the four kilometer danger zone is prohibited.* (DGB)