Marcos checks on Mayon evacuees

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos flew to Albay yesterday to personally check on the condition of thousands of residents displaced by the ongoing eruption of Mayon Volcano and ordered authorities to prepare for aid, both food and non-food items, to last 90 days.

Marcos gave the directive during a situational briefing in Legazpi City after Science Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. warned that Mayon’s abnormal activities may last for a few months.

“I think our working numbers should be 90 days. So it’ll better if it (eruption) ends earlier than anticipated rather than our assistance will fall short,” the President said in mixed Filipino and English.

During the briefing, Solidum presented to Marcos possible scenarios for Mayon.

“Whatever scenario the volcano will follow, the length of the eruption will be in terms of months. So our kababayans may have to stay for several months, slightly less than two months to three months,” the science secretary said.

Marcos noted that based on an earlier briefing, 30 percent of Albay’s Quick Response Fund or QRF can only sustain assistance for 40 days with a budget of P30 million.

With 90 days as the working number, he said concerned authorities must determine immediately how much funding and support are needed.

He noted that Albay Gov. Edcel Greco Lagman already gave some numbers that would help in the recalculation.

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian gave assurance that food packs for over 153,000 families are ready to last for 90 days.

So far, the department has distributed more than 38,000 food packs already, Gatchalian said.

Marcos, however, reiterated the government needs also to provide cash assistance for the evacuees.

The President also instructed the Department of Agriculture (DA), which he concurrently heads, to monitor affected livestock for possible diseases such African swine fever (ASF).

He also urged the DA regional office to immediately assess the eruption’s damage to agricultural crops, especially rice, corn and coconut.?“General figures are OK, but we need specifics. Once we are allowed to go around and assess the damage we have an idea,” he said. Evacuees  From less than 14,000 persons the other day, the number of individuals displaced and affected by Mayon’s continuing volcanic activity rose to 37,231 yesterday.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the number represents a total of 9,571 families, all from the Bicol region.

Of the number, some 4,417 families or 15,502 individuals are seeking temporary shelter in at least 22 different evacuation centers.

The NDRRMC said a total of 18 cities and or municipalities have been placed under a state of calamity, with six localities suspending classes.

So far, more than P33.6 million worth of assistance has been given to affected and displaced families or individuals in the form of food items, family food packs, water, sleeping kits and other basic needs.

Since the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) raised Alert Level 3 over Mayon Volcano last week, thousands of families have been evacuated from the six-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ), fearing a “hazardous eruption” possibly happening “within weeks or even days.UAE assistance

Last Tuesday, Marcos personally met Ambassador Mohamed Obaid Salem Alqataam Alzaabi in Malacañang to thank the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for its assistance to Filipinos affected by the ongoing Mayon eruption.

“Thank you very much. I cannot go further without thanking the UAE for the very timely assistance that you provided the victims of the explosion of our volcano,” Marcos told Alzaabi.Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos and Gatchalian received over 50 tons of humanitarian aid from the UAE government for affected residents.

The UAE government officials assured Marcos that they are more than willing to provide any assistance to the Philippines and the Filipino people, not only during the country’s trying times but also during good times. The President said the Philippines would soon reciprocate the UAE government’s goodness to the Filipino people.

Evacuation

Citing estimates, Abalos said over 40,000 residents may need to be evacuated if Alert Level 4 is raised over Mayon, where over 300 rockfall events within the past 24 hours have been recorded by Phivolcs. He said national agencies and local government units are ready to respond to the ongoing volcanic unrest, including the evacuation of 40,000 people within 48 hours.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government secretary gave the assurance as a relatively high level of unrest has been observed with Mayon, with the presence of magma at the crater and lava flows.

According to the Phivolcs bulletin issued yesterday, there has been a very slow effusion of lava from the summit crater that emplaced lava flow and collapsed debris from the Mi-isi (south) and Bonga (southeastern) gullies within approximately a kilometer from the crater.

There were also seven dome-collapse pyroclastic density currents that lasted four minutes, as well as continuous moderate degassing from the summit crater, the bulletin said. – Romina Cabrera, Ralph Edwin Villanueva, Michael Punongbayan, Rudy Santos, Delon Porcalla, Rudy Santos