Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 19) – Albay Governor Edcel “Grex” Lagman on Monday called two mayors to explain why they allowed evacuation beyond Mayon’s six-kilometer danger zone.
“Walang science behind those actions… Very clear sa advisory na ‘yung pwede lang ma-evacuate ay ‘yung nandoon sa loob ng six-kilometer danger zone,” he said in a press briefing on Monday.
[Translation: There’s no science behind those actions… The advisory is very clear that evacuation is only allowed within the six-kilometer danger zone.]
The governor said he already sent a letter addressed to Santo Domingo Mayor Jun Aguas and Guinobatan Mayor Chino Garcia on Monday to justify of their decision.
The two mayors, meanwhile, said people from their municipalities voluntarily evacuated their homes due to risks posed by the volcano eruption.
But according to Lagman, Aguas and Garcia failed to alert the provincial government that they will start evacuating residents outside the six-kilometer danger zone.
“Hindi naman natin pwedeng sabihin na hindi nila naiintindihan ‘to dahil mayroon naman silang mga local and municipal disaster risk reduction officers,” he said.
[Translation: We can’t say that they can’t understand this policy because they have their own local and municipal disaster risk reduction officers.]
Lagman added that it could have been an exercise of political discretion without basis. He added that the government should allocate millions of pesos of resources to those who really need it.
Data from the provincial government of Albay reported by Lagman showed that 5,473 and 2,972 individuals should be decamped from Santo Domingo and Guinobatan, respectively.
“We will decamp the evacuees dahil wala namang dahilan para nandoon sila in the first place [because they should not have been there in the first place],” the governor said.
Lagman said the numbers accounted for 44% of the total evacuees in the province.
