Bago: Internally displaced persons (IDPs) affected by the eruption of Kanlaon Volcano in the cities of Bago and La Carlota City in Negros Occidental are receiving recovery and rehabilitation support from national government agencies and local government units (LGUs).
According to Philippines News Agency, the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Negros Island Region (DSWD-NIR) stated in a report that the Regional Incident Management Team (RIMT) is working alongside LGUs and partner agencies to facilitate safe, informed, and dignified returns for all affected residents. A team, including members from the Office of Civil Defense and the Department of Health, conducted site visits to the impacted communities, assessing the damage and coordinating response efforts with local disaster management offices.
In Bago City, the team visited Barangay Ilijan, where 22 houses were damaged, affecting 81 residents currently residing in the city's evacuation center. The eruption had damaged roofs and power lines in the area. The city government has planned for the decampment of these residents on August 16.
RIMT personnel also visited La Carlota City, where they participated in a meeting with Mayor Jose Luis Jalandoni and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. They outlined plans for decamping 61 families, totaling 225 individuals, from Barangay Ara-al.
The town of La Castellana, identified as the worst-hit LGU, still houses 61 families or 213 individuals in evacuation centers, with their homes located within the four-kilometer permanent danger zone. Meanwhile, about 1,300 displaced families, or 4,000 people residing outside this zone, returned home after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology downgraded the alert status of Kanlaon Volcano to Alert Level 2 from Alert Level 3 on July 29.
The DSWD has recommended that communities within the four-kilometer permanent danger zone remain evacuated due to potential risks of short-lived explosive eruptions and steam-driven or phreatic explosions.
