BACOLOD City – Nearly seven months of living in evacuation centers, over 1,500 residents from La Castellana, Negros Occident displaced by the eruption of Mount Volcano have started returning home on August 1.
Mayor Añejo Nicor said the decampment began at around 8:30 a.m. for 471 families or 1,548 individuals who were affected after the series of explosions since December 2024.
“This is a hopeful day for our evacuees who have long endured cramped and difficult conditions. They are finally going home,” Nicor said.
The mayor, however, said that 27 families identified as belonging to the vulnerable sector remained at the evacuation centers. These residents, mostly from barangays Biaknabato, Masulog, and Cabagna-an, live within the four-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ) of the volcano and are not yet permitted to go home.
Nicor explained that the local government is awaiting official confirmation from the provincial government regarding plans and responsibility for establishing a permanent relocation site for these families.
“Until there is a safe and appropriate relocation area for them, we cannot allow these families to return to their former homes which remain at risk,” he added.
On Wednesday, July 30, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson welcomed the downgrading of the alert status of Mt. Kanlaon from Alert Level 3 (magmatic unrest/high level of volcanic unrest) to Alert Level 2 (moderate level of volcanic unrest).
Lacson said the provincial government is prioritizing the establishment of a permanent relocation site for internally displaced persons (IDPs) living within the four-kilometer PDZ.
The governor added that the province has already identified a relocation site and will soon close the acquisition of the property in La Castellana. (Watchmen Daily Journal/with a report from the Philippine News Agency)/PN
