Senators seek creation of Mayon Commission

Two senators are seeking the creation of a commission that would oversee the resettlement of displaced residents within the eight-kilometer danger zone around Mayon volcano in Albay.

The Mount Mayon Commission (MMC), as proposed by Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Juan Flavier, would be similar to the Mount Pinatubo Commission which undertook the rehabilitation and resettlement of thousands of people displaced by Mount Pinatubo's eruption in 1991.

Enrile said the MMC is also intended to undertake the relief of thousands of refugees from Mayon's eruption and the rehabilitation of millions of pesos worth of damaged infrastructure.

Enrile, chairman of the Senate ways and means committee, said he will seek for an initial allocation of at least P1 billion for the immediate repair of irrigation systems, roads and other facilities that were destroyed by volcanic debris.

He said it is possible that a large deposit of lahar on Mayon's slopes might cascade and cause havoc among barangays in the lowlands despite government's lowering of the volcano's alert level.

Enrile had just arrived from an ocular inspection of the areas ravaged by Mayon's eruption.

In Legazpi City, police officials, their wives, and friends have distributed some P2 million worth of relief goods to the evacuees, according to Bicol police director Chief Superintendent Marcelo Navarro Jr.

Navarro, who headed the relief distribution, said relief goods had also come from the Couples for Christ and the St. James Parish in Alabang, Muntinlupa.

The police officials' group also handed out medicine in evacuation centers and conducted medical and dental missions, he added.

Meanwhile, the Social Welfare Department's Bicol office will lay out rehabilitation plans for affected residents starting tomorrow, said Jim Rebustrillo, the office's assistant director.

Rebustrillo said the rehabilitation will include livelihood assistance and housing for evacuees to help them recover from the calamity.

He said more houses will be built in resettlement areas like the Anislag housing project, where lots are provided by the concerned local government.

A total of 56,658 refugees from 52 barangays are housed in 36 evacuation centers, according to the provincial social welfare and development office.

Cedric Daep, chief of the Provincial Disaster Management Office, told The STAR efforts are now focused on the rehabilitation of damaged crops in Guinobatan, Ligao, and Oas towns, where losses were estimated at P136,494,692 million.

Barangays being threatened by mudflows will be evacuated between May and June, he added.

In Guinobatan town, out of 19 evacuation centers, only Travesia Elementary School houses 755 refugees from Barangay Tadano, and only Tuburan Elementary School in Ligao town is being occupied by 1,284 evacuees from Barangay Baligang, he added.

Daep said that in Camalig town, five evacuation centers still hold some 8,623 refugees, while residents of Barangay Salugan had already left Palanog Elementary School.

In Daraga town, 11,060 evacuees remain in seven temporary shelters, and 11,972 refugees have not left four evacuation centers in Sto. Domingo town, including 2,473 in two evacuation centers in Malilipot town, he added.

Daep said the 1,049 evacuees from Barangays Buang and Magapo are still in Panal Bangkilingan evacuation center in Tabaco town.

Last Saturday morning, Mayon spewed an ash column a kilometer into the air, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

The agency said the ash ejection occurred after water came into contact with hot lava deposits on the summit of Mayon.

The explosion resulted in the formation of ash cloud on the upper slopes of Bonga Gully from the lava deposit on Mayon's upper slopes and from a descending lava fragment at 12:42 p.m., the agency added.

Phivolcs said instruments recorded five low-frequency volcanic quakes and seven episodes of short-duration tremors, including a slight deflation of the volcano's edifice.

During the observation period, Mayon was relatively quiet as shown by faint crater glow at the tip of its cone, weak to moderate release of steam, a slight decrease in sulfur dioxide emission from 4,500 to 4,000 tons per day, and a slight deflation of the volcano edifice, the agency said.

However, Phivolcs warned that a significant volume of pyroclastic deposits are still susceptible to erosion and subsequent demobilization as secondary pyroclastic flows, lahar or debris.

Mayon's alert status was changed last March 9 from alert level 5 to alert level 4 following the observation of a waning trend in volcanic activity. -- With Felix delos Santos, Celso Amo, Cet Dematera