Forced evacuation set for residents near Mayon

Local authorities in Albay province issued an ultimatum on Thursday imposing "zero tolerance" on residents who refuse to evacuate their homes in danger zones around rumbling Mayon Volcano, as volcanologists warned of a looming eruption. The provincial government is enforcing strict compliance with the order to remove all residents from danger zones, Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office head Cedric Daep said. Albay Governor Jose Salceda issued a relocation ultimatum, as well as a directive to all mayors in towns near the volcano to complete their evacuation operations soonest. “We will impose strict compliance with the policy. We cannot control the danger from the volcano but we can control the entry of people to the danger areas. So we expect law enforcers to practice very tight and strict compliance," Daep said in an interview on dzXL radio. He noted that as of 9 a.m. on Thursday about 6,993 families or 32,442 persons have been transferred to evacuation centers. He added that some hardheaded residents had opted to stay at their homes, refusing repeated appeals by local officials to evacuate. Rafael Alejandro IV, head of the Office of Civil Defense in Bicol, said they hoped to complete the evacuation within the day. "Yung target natin mga 9,000 families. Kahapon umabot na ng 7,000 (Our target is 9,000 families. As of Wednesday, we already evacuated close to 7,000)," he said. A report by radio dzBB early Thursday said the Philippine Army was to patrol the six- to eight-kilometer danger zone around the rumbling volcano for hardheaded residents. Doing the usual thing As local officials scramble to haul affected residents to safe grounds, some of the local folks were seen doing their daily routines, completely ignoring the warnings. A dzBB report said many residents had insisted on staying at the danger zone, some of them tending their farms and drying their harvested palay. Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales was quoted by dzBB in a noontime report as saying that about a tenth of the residents were still in danger zones. In some instances, residents continued to ignore the advice to rush to safety by playing cards, holding drinking sprees, or doing their usual pastime, the report said. A resident said they refuse to leave their homes and farms for fear that some people would steal their livestock and whatever little they have. "We will be fine here because we are used to the changing mood of Mayon. Besides, my husband is an invalid and we would have a hard at the evacuation center," a woman said in the vernacular. ‘Hazardous’ eruption Renato Solidum, Jr., Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) director, said a "hazardous" eruption might be forthcoming, but dismissed a "Pinatubo explosion" scenario. He said they were likely to raise the alert level in Mayon to 4 from 3. “We are monitoring Mayon closely, especially its volcanic and seismic activities, as well as the type of volcanic quakes," Solidum said in an interview on dzBB radio. He declined to give a timetable on when they will raise the alert level, but said another possible indicator might be an increase in ash explosions. Solidum said that with the volcano presently spewing lava and ash, two scenarios are likely — a lava flow with moderate ash explosion or a hazardous eruption with pyroclastic flow. Alert level 4 is characterized by an imminent hazardous eruption, marked by the volcano's intensifying unrest, including persistent tremors and many low frequency-type earthquakes. The volcano may also show a sustained hike or decline in sulfur dioxide emissions, intense crater glow and the presence of incandescent lava fragments in the summit area. But Solidum insists that even if a hazardous eruption occurs at Mayon, the scale would not be as destructive as the Mount Pinatubo eruption in Central Luzon in 1991. Pinatubo spewed in the air a column of ash and pyroclastic materials several kilometers long. When the ash settled, it covered a big part of Central Luzon, changing the landscape, and burying houses and buildings dozens of feet beneath. “We are not using the term major eruption because it may give people the wrong impression that a hazardous eruption would be similar to what happened to Mount Pinatubo in 1991. That will not be the case," he Solidum said. Phivolcs raised the alert level on Mayon from 2 to 3 on Monday night after noting increased volcanic activity there. Phivolcs had raised the alert level to 2 last July 10. “Sundin ang kautusan ng local government officials, para ito sa kapakanan ng ating kababayan diyan (Follow the instructions of local government officials. This is for their good)," Solidum said in an interview on dzBB radio. - LBG/NPA, GMANews.TV