Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 15) — The provincial government of Albay is eyeing the permanent resettlement of people within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone radius of Mayon Volcano, an official said.
“‘Yan po yung gagawin namin right after mag-normalize ang situation dito. Kailangan ng housing. Sinabi ko sa president kahapon at sabi niya na tama yon, kailangan talaga hindi na maging perennial ang problema na ito,” Gov. Grex Lagman said during a public briefing on Thursday.
[Translation: That’s what we will do once things normalize. We need housing. I spoke to the president yesterday and he said that’s correct, that this should not be a perennial problem.]
“Every three or four years kasi nagkakaroon kaming mga events [there are events with Mayon] and it’s a big burden sa aming pondo [to our funds] and of course the government. Kailangan talaga na pag [we need to] resettle,” he added.
Lagman said the resettlement sites would be developed with the help of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor and Employment, and the Department of Agrarian Reform.
He said the provincial government is considering a hybrid system banning residents from living within the danger zone but allowing them to farm the lands inside it to supplement their livelihood.
“Ang problema po is the fact that wala tayong national law that prohibits them to put up residences in said places na delikado… Kung batas po ito, mas may ngipin, mas kaya natin mag-act,” he added.
[Translation: The problem is that we don’t have a national law that prohibits them to put up residences in dangerous places… If we had a law, we could enforce it.]
Latest information from the Albay Provincial Information Office said that 5,266 families or 19,079 people have left their homes as of 5 p.m. on June 14.
Mayon Volcano is currently under Alert Level 3 with a permanent danger zone with a radius of six kilometers.
It has an extended danger zone of seven kilometers which could be extended up to eight kilometers if the volcano exhibits higher levels of unrest.
