Bago City employees bring Christmas cheers to Kanlaon evacuees 

GIFT-GIVING. Bago City Mayor Nicholas Yulo (right) gives a message to families displaced by the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon during the Christmas celebration sponsored by the City Hall employees in one of the evacuation centers on Monday (Dec. 23, 2024). (Photo courtesy of Bago City Information Office)

BACOLOD CITY – Opting to cancel the employees’ Christmas gathering this year, the City of Bago in Negros Occidental instead brought the celebration to the evacuation centers of residents affected by the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon.

Through the “Adopt an Evacuation Center” initiative with the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Western Visayas, four groups of employees sponsored the parties and gift-giving activities in the evacuation centers on Monday.

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In a statement on Tuesday, Mayor Nicholas Yulo commended the City Hall personnel for extending a hand to fellow Bagonhons in a time of disaster and also assured the internally-displaced persons (IDPs) of continuous assistance from the city government.

“Don’t lose hope. This is just temporary. We hope and pray that you will be able to go back to your respective homes soon,” the mayor told the evacuees.

The evacuation camps are located at the Amateur Boxer of the Philippines Building, Ramon Torres National High School Gymnasium, Regional Evacuation Center, Technical Livelihood Development Center (TLDC), the city’s table tennis court, mess hall and athletes’ headquarters.

Some 111 individuals belonging to 39 families staying at the TLDC, table tennis court and mess hall had a party with the Yellow Vanguards group.

The Flaming Pleach brought the celebration to more than a hundred evacuees at the adjacent athletes’ headquarters while the Blue Titans and the Green Warriors sponsored the parties for affected residents in other evacuation centers.

The IDPs were treated to a lunch, intermission numbers and games with prizes and also received food packs, cash and other gifts, including toys for children.

“This truly resembles the solidarity of the local government unit with the Bagonhons currently staying in evacuation centers due to the eminent danger from the Mt. Kanlaon eruption,” City Social Welfare and Development officer Leah Pilipina Canayon said.

Cumulative data of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office as of 4 p.m. on Dec. 23 showed that some 1,856 residents or 551 families from four villages in Bago City have been evacuated since the Dec. 9 explosive eruption, but only 500 persons or 161 families from Barangay Ilijan have remained in evacuation centers. (PNA)