DEGASSING Mt. Kanlaon continues to spew steam plumes over the weekend as seen in this photo taken on Saturday (June 8, 2024). Alert Level 2 remains hoisted over the volcano as it continues to display unrest. (Photo courtesy of Julius Muñez)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Monitoring of the restive Mt. Kanlaon in Negros continues without delay despite the challenges that the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) is facing, an official said Monday.
Ma. Antonio V. Bornas, chief of the Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division (VMEPD), told the Philippine News Agency that although there is no Phivolcs observatory in Canlaon City in Negros Oriental, the agency continues to give out advisories and regular updates on Kanlaon Volcano through their La Carlota, Negros Occidental observatory.
Phivolcs officials are currently in Negros Island to visit the different Phivolcs stations around the Mt. Kanlaon area including Canlaon City in Negros Oriental.
During the eruption of Kanlaon on June 3 and until June 10, Phivolcs has consistently given advisories through its monitoring and reporting of the volcano’s status by posting on its website, and social media, and by sharing information with the Office of Civil Defense which in turn cascades the information down to the local governments, including the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Offices.
Her statement came after reports of local and national government officials calling out Phivolcs in previous days for not maintaining an observatory in Canlaon City.
The La Carlota observatory covers practically the entire Mt. Kanlaon monitoring network.
Phivolcs will soon assign engineers and open a new observatory in Canlaon City, Bornas said.
“We just finished rehabilitating the Canlaon observatory from a one-story to a two-story building. Engineers will be assigned there while Phivolcs is in the process of procuring new equipment and instruments,” she added.
The Phivolcs officials also said that government procurement processes take a long time, reason for the delay in renovating the Canlaon City observatory.
Meanwhile, Bornas expressed concern over the poor Internet signal at the La Carlota observatory, saying it is a real challenge for them to talk to the different stations around the volcano and put out real-time information.
Canlaon City would be a better option considering it has stronger Internet and telecommunications connectivity.
Alert Level 2 remains hoisted over Mt. Kanlaon as it continues to display unrest and steam-driven emission and degassing.
Prices not affected
– There is no monitored rise in the prices of basic and prime commodities in Canlaon City following the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon on June 3, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Negros Oriental said Monday. There is also enough supply of commodities in the mountain city, DTI-Negros Oriental provincial director Nimfa Virtucio assured in an interview with the Philippine News Agency.
She added, however, that the supply of safe and potable drinking water needs to be addressed.
“Although not critical, we want to ensure that there will be enough potable water in Canlaon City as its ground sources are compromised by sulfur dioxide emitted by the volcano during the eruption to date,” Virtucio said.
Canlaon Mayor Jose Chubasco Cardenas assured the DTI that the local government has a portable water filtration that goes around the city to ensure the needs of residents are met.
Also, there are refilling stations in the lowland towns that deliver regularly to customers in the mountain city, Virtucio added.
A price freeze was ordered in Canlaon after the city government declared a state of calamity the day after the eruption.
The provincial government already declared a state of calamity in April for 60 days due to the effects of the El Niño phenomenon.
Water filtration truck deployed
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) announced that it has deployed a water filtration truck along with a seven-member rapid deployment team to Negros Occidental to help communities affected by the eruption of Mount Kanlaon on June 3.
In a statement Sunday night, OCD administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno said the water filtration truck and RDT departed Manila on Saturday.
The truck and the team reached Negros Occidental at 5 a.m. Monday, the OCD chief added in an update.
He added that the deployment of the water filtration truck and the RDT is essential due to water contamination being experienced in the province due to ashfall. The water filtration equipment can produce 50,000 liters of water per day to serve the population affected by the Kanlaon eruption.
The OCD also facilitated the delivery of 4,000 pieces of N95 face masks to Negros Occidental on June 6.
"We are in constant coordination with the affected regions to augment the response efforts and provide their needs or requests,” Nepomuceno said. PNA