Inquirer
Updated 03:03am (Mla time) 06/25/2006
JUBAN, SORSOGON—THE Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) has declared as “no man’s land” the 4-km danger zone around Bulusan Volcano as part of its efforts to ensure the safety of the residents.
Gov. Raul Lee said after the tension-filled PDCC meeting yesterday that no one would be allowed now to venture into the danger zone even as the volcano has remained silent the past few days.
He said he would also request the provincial board to pass an ordinance banning the entry of the public into the area, except those authorized by the disaster council.
Some residents of Barangay Inlagadian in Casiguran town refused to leave their homes, saying it was still safe and that they could not just abandon their properties and their means of livelihood.
Director Arnel Capili of the Office of Civil Defense recommended to the governor to tap the police and the military in ensuring compliance to the entry ban.
Preparedness
Capili, who was present at the meeting which was marred by arguments, said the local disaster councils had amply addressed all the aspects of disaster preparation, saying things were still within the capability of both the MDCC and the PDCC.
Lee called the closed-door PDCC meeting to settle disagreements between the two mayors of Juban and Irosin, on one hand, and the mayor of Casiguran, on the other.
The Municipal Disaster Coordinating Council has started finalizing plans for the relocation of residents of barangays Puting-Sapa and Añog as part of the precautionary measures.
Guab-Fragata said they were heeding the advice of the PDCC and Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) to temporarily relocate the residents to ensure their safety as danger remained high.
The Juban mayor said Puting-Sapa has 106 households composed of 503 individuals while Añog has 484 residents comprising 86 households.
The MDCC is now identifying possible areas for the relocation and listing down the necessities at the new site.
An executive of Phivolcs said the agency has to modify the hazard map of Mt. Bulusan. Ernesto Corpuz, chief science research specialist of Phivolcs, said on Friday that their geopositioning system validation using the baseline map from the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (Namria) is intended to modify the existing hazard map which, he said, has to be updated every eruption.
On Thursday, Eduardo Laguerta (not Laguardia as earlier reported), coordinator for Bicol volcano monitoring, said in a phone interview that the Phivolcs was still validating information and location to come up with a specific hazard map of Mt. Bulusan.
Corpuz clarified that the geologists based in the Philvolcs office in Manila are the ones generating the hazard map after the data from the ground have been fed to them.
He said the Phivolcs modifies the map after each eruption based on the new materials deposited at the volcano’s slopes.
He said the validation using the GPS is also intended to resolve issues concerning exact location of danger zone areas in a situation that some areas are outside the danger zone but are endangered by lahar flow.
He said the village of Cogon in Irosin is outside the danger zone but because of the gully that cut across the village they have to assess it again.
Debris
The deposited debris on the slopes were still to be computed, Corpuz said.
He said no significant number of volcanic tremors were recorded as of June 22. But the intermittent heavy rains that poured since June 19 here have shown the danger of an ash mud flow to the communities along the gullies.
Benjamin Gabiosa, Irosin municipal engineer, said the families in Cogon, one kilometer from the national road, were evacuated in the afternoon of June 20 after heavy rains when mud stream flow started to rumble down near the inhabited areas.
Gabiosa said 402 individuals, mostly women and children, were housed in the Gallanosa High School here because of the intermittent downpour.
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