INCREASING UNREST. A view of Mt. Kanlaon, an active volcano in Negros Island, from the Negros Occidental side. The Department of Social Welfare and Development's (DSWD) Western Visayas and Central Visayas field offices on Thursday (Sept. 12, 2024) said they are on high alert and ready for the possible Kanlaon response operations as the volcano exhibits heightened unrest. (Photo courtesy of Negros Occidental Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office)
MANILA – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office 6 (Western Visayas) is on high alert after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) warned of an “eruptive unrest and an increase in the alert level” due to the seismic activity of Mt. Kanlaon.
“As instructed by Secretary Rex Gatchalian, the DSWD is on high gear as our regional offices prepare for the worst, amid the volcanic unrest of Mt. Kanlaon,” Assistant Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group (DMRG) Irene Dumlao said on Thursday.
Dumlao said FO-Western Visayas currently has PHP147 million-worth of food and non-food items (NFIs) already in place for the Kanlaon response operations.
“We have a total of 37,868 family food packs (FFPs) and more than 15,000 non-food items such as family kits; sleeping kits, hygiene kits, and kitchen kits,” the DSWD spokesperson said.
The FNIs are prepositioned at La Castellana, Negros Occidental, which had the highest number of affected families during the Mt. Kanlaon eruption in June this year.
The DSWD FO-6 also maintains a PHP3-million standby fund, according to the DRMG official.
Dumlao said the regional field office has capacitated the concerned local government units (LGUs) on Internally Displaced Persons Protection (IDPP), as well as Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM), to ensure the safety and security of IDPs and the proper handling of evacuation centers.
“The DSWD FO in Western Visayas also inspected the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental in preparation for the possible Kanlaon response operations as the volcano exhibits heightened unrest,” she said.
The stadium has been designated as the evacuation center for the residents of the municipalities of La Castellana, La Carlota, Moises Padilla, and the Cities of Bago and San Carlos.
Augmentation support
Meanwhile, the DSWD Field Office 7 (Central Visayas) assured the local government units (LGUs) in Negros Oriental that it has enough relief supplies to augment the LGUs’ resources for any possible effects of Mt. Kanlaon’s volcanic activities.
“We, at the DSWD, assure the governor, district representatives, and town and city mayors that we will provide the needed support -- both food and non-food items -- and even personnel of the FO-7,” DSWD Central Visayas Regional Director Shalaine Marie Lucero said in a separate statement.
Lucero said the FO-7 has a stockpile of 6,800 boxes of FFPs, 255 kitchen kits, 224 family kits, 161 hygiene kits, 233 sleeping kits, one camp management kit, women-friendly space kit, and child- friendly kit prepositioned in Canlaon City.
The Field Office also prepositioned 3,400 FFPs in the nearby municipality of Vallehermoso, Negros Oriental.
“A total of 14,385 boxes of FFPs in Dumaguete City are also available for augmentation to LGUs as the need arises,” Lucero said.
The DSWD FO-7 has requested additional 3,000 NFIs from the agency’s National Resource Operations Center (NROC) in Pasay City to be prepositioned in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental. (PNA)
