Mayon evacuees start returning home

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — After three months in evacuation centers, hundreds of residents displaced by the restive Mayon Volcano in Albay have started returning home, authorities reported yesterday.

Among those allowed to decamp were people living outside the six-kilometer-radius permanent danger zone, who voluntarily left their homes when the volcano’s abnormal activities escalated.

“These residents were not ordered to evacuate when Mayon first showed unrest. They voluntarily went to evacuations centers,” said Cedric Daep, chief of the Albay public safety and emergency management office.

“We allowed them to stay because we understand that they were scared of the volcano. Now they want to go home,” Daep told The STAR yesterday.

He said that only around 2,000 families were required to evacuate when Mayon’s alert level was raised to three.

Daep said voluntarily decampments are ongoing in the towns of Camalig, Daraga, Guinobatan and Sto. Domingo.

He said he has yet to receive reports on the actual number of residents who have decamped.

More than 5,500 families sought shelter in 25 evacuation centers across Albay when Mayon’s alert level was raised to three on June 8.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology recorded three volcanic earthquakes, 187 rockfall events, three pyroclastic density current (PDC) events and 756 sulfur dioxide  emissions in the past 24 hours.

Entry into the volcano’s permanent danger zone remains prohibited as PDCs, lava flows, rockfalls and other volcanic hazards may occur any time.