Cebu mayors unfazed by Kanlaon activity

MAYORS of Midwest Cebu were not alarmed by the haze caused by the Mount Kanlaon ash eruption on Tuesday.

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), however, called on officials and residents of Tabuelan, Tuburan, Asturias, Balamban, Toledo City, Pinamungajan and Aloguinsan to remain vigilant.

Julius Regner, PDRRMO spokesman, said residents of Cebu towns facing Negros Island should prepare masks or shirts and pieces of soaked cloth to cover their mouths and noses to reduce smoke inhalation.

“For now, all we can do is to stay safe,” he told reporters yesterday.

Asturias Mayor Allan Adlawan said they used to be able to see the town of Calatrava (Negros Occidental) from their town.

“But now, we can barely see it through the haze,” Adlawan said.

Asturias and Calatrava are 100 kilometers apart.

A level 1 alert status was hoisted by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) over Kanlaon last Tuesday following a steam explosion at 9:55 p.m. that lasted eight minutes.

Trekking is strictly prohibited especially in the four-kilometer permanent danger zone.

Mount Kanlaon, an active volcano located on Negros Island, remained restive yesterday although it was calmer compared to Tuesday’s phreatic eruption.

The volcano was seen emitting moderate white smoke that had a height of 500 meters above the crater. From the southwest side of the volcano, the eruption plume was observed to have reached 1,500 meters above the active crater.

Negros authorities were working against time to put out grass fires near the volcano’s crater.

The fire was believed to have been triggered by the fiery rocks and other incandescent materials that the volcano emitted on Tuesday night, said Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer Andres Untal.

“There’s a possibility that it could reach the forested area about 4 kilometers away,” he said.

Zeaphard Gerhart Caelian, Negros Occidental Provincial Disaster Management Program Division chief, said they were putting together a team that would create a line to prevent the fire from crossing to the forest.

Traces of ashfall were reported in La Carlota City and Pontevedra town in Negros Occidental, said Isagani Republica of the Negros Occidental Provincial Disaster Management Program Division.

Ben Tananan, Phivolcs science research analyst, said Mount Kanlaon is known for minor phreatic explosions and a period of calm before it occurs again.

“This is caused by surface water coming in contact with hot rocks that trigger the explosion,” he said.

The Phivolcs reiterated its November advisory following Tuesday’s eruption and reminded civil aviation authorities to also advise pilots to avoid flying close to the volcano’s summit.