2k villagers near Kanlaon volcano told to evacuate

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  — About 200 families or close to 2,000 households living at the foot of Mt. Kanlaon were advised by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to evacuate permanently due to danger of being buried in a landslide.

The families, living in Brgy. Maytubig and nearby villages in Isabela town, Negros Occidental, are at risk of being buried in a landslide if heavy rains continue or another earthquake may occur there, according to Leilanie Suerte, senior science research specialist of MGB, in a TV interview Wednesday.

Suerte, who led a team with local disaster workers in inspecting the area, said they found a lot of loose boulders, some as big as trucks, at Mt. Kanlaon, an active volcano which spans some towns and cities of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.

The crater of Mt. Kanlaon sustained huge cracks, estimated to be about 40 feet in length, following a 6.9-magnitude quake that struck Negros Island last Feb. 6, according to Vicfran Defante, head of the Negros Occidental Provincial Disaster Management Team.

Suerte said Brgy. Maytubig in Isabela, Negros Occidental is situated just behind Brgy. Planas in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, where 28 victims were still buried by landslides as government troops stopped search and retrieval operations last Friday.

“They are separated only by a mountain. An active fault line is just behind (Maytubig); if an earthquake happens again, the area will experience strong tremors,” she added.

In Isabela, fissures were also found in villages of Lima-Lima, San Agustin and Banog-banog, reports said.

In the neighboring La Castellana town, cracks and landslides were also noted at sitio Mercedes in Brgy. Liganog, and in the barangay proper of Sag-ang, reports added.

Suerte said she will inspect other landslide-prone areas in Isabela, and will do the same to villages in La Castellana and San Carlos City.

After the recent earthquake, the DENR, through the Office of the Protected Area Superintendent, declared Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park temporarily closed to mountaineers. (FREEMAN)