Legazpi City (Dec. 31) -- Albay Gov. Joey Salceda yesterday ordered army soldiers to once more round up ‘stragglers’ within Mt. Mayon’s eight kilometer-danger zone, hardheaded residents who kept on going back to their abodes against the order of ’no human activity’ within the area, amid incessant volcanic tremors and rumbling sound.
Firm on his ‘Zero Casualty’ target as chairman of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC), Salceda also ordered the local electric cooperative to cut off power within the risk areas to discourage any human activities particularly in Barangays Bonga, Buyuan, Matanag, Padang and Mabinit of Legazpi City, which are well within the 8-kilometer danger zone.
Four deaths were reported since the evacuation started December 14, but all were verified not related to the disaster.
“You move or I will move you”, Salceda told army Captain Razaliegh Bansawan, head of the Joint Mayon Task Force maintaining security of the residents and the danger zones, following reports that there were residents who either refused to evacuate or kept on returning to their Barangays, slipping through military cordon.
Bansawan, who is also Public Information Officer of the Philippine Army’s 901st Brigade said he had sent his troops back within the area to ‘ persuade civilians to allow themselves to be ferried by army trucks’ to their evacuation centers, confirming reports that evacuees occasionally slip through military lines.
In a radio interview, Governor Salceda firmly stressed the urgency of following the order of no human activity ‘without exception’ within the danger zone, specifically seven kilometers at the Northern and eight kilometers at the Southern portions of the volcano.
The forcible evacuation was earlier favored by an order from the Commission on Human Rights recently, “for the safety of the residents“.
“We will drag them, if it needs be,” Salceda said, visibly irritated.
Residents caught within the danger zones when interrogated gave reasons many almost bordering to the outrageous, among them; to water their plants, cook delicacies for the Holidays, inspect locks of their houses, get firewood, gather vegetables. One elderly woman who tried to cross the line but failed, when interviewed said she wanted to go back because she was simply sad.
Residents can no longer use the usual justification of tending to their work animals: the PDCC, through Gov. Salceda’s order, had also established evacuation areas for work animals and livestock.
Some officials, however, said most evacuees’ problems could be anchored on the physiological aspect, staying in crowded holding centers devoid of privacy.
Authorities estimate the disaster could last about two months, from 47 days or more, based on previous evacuation experiences and the period by which it takes volcanologists to lower Mayon’s alert levels. (PIO)
RELATED ARTICLES
Mayon Updates |
