Some residents in Kanlaon Volcano danger zone hesitant to evacuate — Teodoro

Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Tuesday said some residents within the danger zone are hesitant to evacuate despite Alert Level 3 having been raised over Kanlaon Volcano after its eruption on Monday.

“Ang issues na hinaharap namin ngayon, naghe-hesitate na lumikas ang mga tao kasi hindi sila sanay sa ganitong pangyayari at syempre hesitant sila na iwanan ang kanilang ari-arian,” Teodoro said in an ambush interview after an inter-agency meeting.

(The issues we are facing now, people are hesitant to evacuate because they are not used to this kind of situation and so they are hesitant to leave their properties.)

“Ngunit, ang municipalities involved lalo na sa La Castellana ay unti-unti nang bumibilis ang kanilang paglilikas,” he added.

(But, the municipalities involved, especially in La Castellana, are gradually speeding up their evacuation.)

Residents within the six-kilometer danger zone have been advised to leave their homes after Alert Level 3 was raised on Monday.

Teodoro said they are planning to evacuate around 54,000 residents. However, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said only over 9,400 residents have evacuated so far.

“Forced na ito pero syempre nakikiusap tayo sa sa mga tao dahil I mean kahit na forced, tao rin naman yun e ano. Kinakailangan din nating bigyan ng balanse pero force na ‘yun,” he said.

(It's already forced evacuation, but of course we're convincing the people because I mean even if it's forced, they're still human, right? We also have to give balance.)

“The most affected towns and the critical towns are the towns of La Castellana, Negros Occidental and Canlaon City in Negros Oriental… Busy kami ngayon sa pagpo-provide ng adequate provisions na pag-e-evacuate-an nila,” he added.

(The most affected towns and the critical towns are the towns of La Castellana, Negros Occidental and Canlaon City in Negros Oriental... We are now busy providing adequate provisions to evacuate them.)

According to Teodoro, Task Force Kanlaon began operations following the eruption.

A total of 9,403 individuals or 2,880 families have been evacuated so far in five cities and towns in Negros Occidental after the explosive eruption of Kanlaon Volcano, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said on Tuesday.

On Monday, Kanlaon Volcano had an explosive eruption that lasted 3 minutes and 55 seconds, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). The volcano emitted a 4,000-meter high smoke column.

Ashfall was reported and pyroclastic density currents or PDCs descended the slopes of the volcano. —RF, GMA Integrated News