Negros Island Region transition delays aid for Kanlaon eruption evacuees

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – The ongoing transition from Western and Central Visayas to the newly created Negros Island Region (NIR) is taking a toll on government responses to help more than 14,000 evacuees now in six localities in Negros Occidental after Kanlaon Volcano erupted again on Monday, November 9.

Adrian Ramos, Department of Health (DOH)-NIR head of provincial and city operations in Negros Occidental, told Rappler on Wednesday, December 11, that there were delays in government responses after the December 9 eruption due to the ongoing regional transition.

On June 13, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. formalized the NIR’s creation by signing Republic Act  12000. The new region, born out of a persistent push for administrative unification, carvd out Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor from Western and Central Visayas. The law consolidated these areas under one administrative unit, a long-sought goal for the country’s fourth-largest island.

But the signing was only the beginning. The law includes provisions for establishing a technical working group tasked with laying the groundwork for NIR’s operations. This includes addressing critical details such as organizational structures, staffing, and budget allocations for regional agencies. 

The transition process is what’s causing the delay in the government’s response following Monday’s eruption. DOH-NIR still lacks a full staff and has no warehouses to stock goods like face masks, medicines, nebulizers, and other essentials for evacuations, he said. 

“So, we’ve asked for an augmentation of supplies from DOH-Western Visayas. But everything is coming gradually. We are now addressing every concern. We have more than enough supplies of face masks and even aqua tablets to purify drinking water, among other supplies, as we have already pre-positioned them. Just a little patience, please,” Ramos said.

More than 8,000 evacuees from eight of the 13 villages in La Castellana town alone are complaining about a lack of tents, drinking water, and face masks.

Bago City’s 1,500 evacuees are facing the same problems.

Meanwhile, nearly 800 affected residents in Pontevedra town are asking for medicines, among other needs.

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) has already committed to sending more tents as the number of evacuees rises, especially in La Castellana, the worst-hit locality by Kanlaon’s latest eruption.

Records from the town’s disaster risk reduction and management office, as of Tuesday afternoon, December 18, showed 8,799 evacuees from 2,715 families.

However, the number continues to rise, according to the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO).

La Castellana’s evacuees are scattered across 11 evacuation centers within the town proper and one in Barangay Masulog.

A report from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) indicated that, aside from La Castellana, there are also evacuees in Bago City (1,512), La Carlota City (1,258), Pontevedra (722), Murcia (53), and Moises Padilla (36).

Unlike in the June 3 Kanlaon eruption, when La Castellana, with more than 20,000 evacuees, was flooded with donations from various donors, both public and private, this time there appears to be “donor fatigue.”

La Castellana Mayor Alme Rhummyla Nicor-Mangilimutan said the situation is depleting the local government’s savings because they have no choice but to attend to the immediate needs of all their evacuees.

If the evacuees were to be asked, they would want to go home. They have food, but lack drinking water and tents to sleep in, making it difficult to care for their children in the evacuation centers.

But the newly established Task Force Kanlaon, led by OCD-Region VI Director Raul Fernandez, is not yet recommending the return of evacuees to their homes.

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson estimated that the situation may be prolonged beyond Christmas.

Meanwhile, Fernandez told Rappler on Wednesday that Task Force Kanlaon’s current focus is to evacuate another 40,000 residents within the extended six-kilometer permanent danger zone, as Kanlaon remains at alert level 3.

He said they are finalizing a plan organized by the Inter-Agency Coordinating Cell for another wave of evacuations, involving more than 40,000 people from various localities on both the Occidental and Oriental sides of Negros Island.

Task Force Kanlaon has already identified locations to house these evacuees, in addition to the current 14,000.

“We have identified stable evacuation centers, including the provincial government-owned Panaad Park and Stadium in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod; Himamaylan City Gym; and Bago City Gym, among others,” Fernandez said.

Negros Occidental’s Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) head, Joan Nathaniel Gerangaya, advised motorists to avoid roads in barangays Ilijan and Mailum in Bago City, and Ara-al in La Carlota, as they are still covered in ash and sulfur.

The ashfall from Monday’s eruption concentrated in these areas in the southwestern portion of Kanlaon.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Gerangaya said, highways in these barangays remained “dangerous” for motorists, as vehicles, especially single motorcycles, may skid.

With the volume of ashfall that reached as far as the nearby Guimaras and Panay islands, Gerangaya said two things could happen: If it rains, lahar will flow; if not, large areas of vegetation in central Negros Occidental will be rendered useless, and crops will die.

He lamented that they cannot provide a comprehensive assessment of the damage caused by the ashfall because they cannot use drones yet due to the ongoing restiveness of Kanlaon.

Worse, he said they cannot send staff to survey the affected areas or assist residents because of the extended permanent dangerzone,  which stretches six kilometers from the crater. 
“It’s a no-man’s land for now,” he said. – Rappler.com