The government has begun distributing food packs and other essential aid to over 80,000 residents affected by the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon since Monday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced on Tuesday.

The President said Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian had flown to Negros Island to oversee the relief efforts.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has allocated “sufficient funds” to provide additional support to families temporarily housed in evacuation centers, Marcos added.

“We are ready to support the families who have been evacuated outside the six-kilometer danger zone. We’re ready. We know what to do and we have already started to send food packs, and we already started to send all of the things that we [need to] bring to those who are in evacuation center,” he said.

Forced evacuation enforced

Meanwhile, the Department of National Defense (DND) urged the residents of La Castellana in Negros Occidental and Canlaon City in Negros Oriental who remain within the six-kilometer danger zone of Mt. Kanlaon to evacuate immediately.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the government is conducting a forced evacuation in these areas after Mt. Kanlaon’s alert status was raised to level 3.

As of Tuesday, the NDRRMC Emergency Operations Center reported the evacuation of 1,686 families, or 5,400 individuals, from Barangays Cabagnaan, Camandag, Sag-Ang, Biaknabato, Mansalanao, Masulog, Manghanoy and Robles in La Castellana.

In Bago City, Negros Occidental, 385 families were evacuated from Barangays Mailum, Ilijan, Binubuhan and Ma-ao.

La Carlota City reported the evacuation of 673 families from Barangays Yubo and Ara-al.

In Pontevedra, 132 families were evacuated from two barangays, while four families in Moises Padilla were evacuated from one barangay.

In total, 2,880 families across five municipalities and 17 barangays have been affected.

Residents recount eruption

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported that Kanlaon erupted at around 3:03 p.m. on Monday.

Residents of Negros Island were caught off guard by the sudden explosive eruption of Kanlaon.

Vicente Tamonan III, 24, a resident of Barangay Ilijan in Bago City, was at home when the eruption occurred.

“I was at home, while my mother was at our store,” Tamonan said.

His area in Barangay Ilijan falls within the six-kilometer danger zone, which prompted Phivolcs to raise Kanlaon’s alert level to 3 and advise local government units to evacuate residents due to the potential for further explosive eruptions.

After the eruption, Tamonan quickly gathered essential items such as documents, clothes, food, and his phone before heading to an evacuation center.

A local bus picked up residents in Barangay Ilijan, allowing them to bring what they could.

In Facebook posts, Tamonan shared that many residents were evacuated to the Bago City Coliseum, where they spent the night.