Bacolod City – The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) has urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to strictly implement border control measures within the six-kilometer extended danger zone around Kanlaon Volcano.
Donato Sermeno III, OCD regional director for Negros Island Region, said recently that the farmers and residents who are allowed to enter the 6 kilometer extended danger zone, from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., to attend to their crops and livestocks, have been found to have brought their children with them.
He called on the PNP to document all the persons entering and exiting the danger zone.
Stricter enforcement is a response to ongoing ash emissions and the possibility of further eruptions, as the danger zone remains in effect, despite the entry ban being lifted.
Sermeno also said there is a possibility of more lahar flow into creeks and other waterways if heavy rains persist, due to the accumulated debris at the upper portion of Kanlaon Volcano, following eruptions since June last year.
Due to continuous rains on May 24, lahar overflowed into the highway of Sitio Tamburong in Barangay Biak Na Bato in La Castellana, rendering it inaccessible to commuters for several hours.
The La Castellana Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council reported that a house was destroyed, while seven others were partially damaged due to the lahar flow.
Prior to the latest lahar flow, residents in the area have already been evacuated to the town poblacion.
Biak Na Bato barangay chairman Joselito Martinez, said in a radio interview that the barangay council has already sent a letter to the national government, through the municipal government of La Castellana, asking the rehabilitation of the bridge in their barangay, where stocked lahar overflowed up to the highway last week. (Gilbert Bayoran via tvds)