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Arroyo orders probe on forced Albay evacuation


President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Wednesday ordered an investigation into whether the forced evacuation being enforced in danger zones around Mayon Volcano in Albay province violates the residents' rights. The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said President Arroyo, who visited Albay earlier in the day, issued the order to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). "In the meeting, [President Arroyo instructed] DOJ to coordinate with CHR chairperson [regarding] 'Forced Evacuation as Human Rights Violation,'" the NDCC said in its 7 p.m. report. The President also ordered the Army's 9th Infantry Division, which is enforcing the forced evacuation, to account for the 56 families who are yet to leave their homes despite the danger being posed by the restive volcano.


President Arroyo presided over an NDCC meeting and visited some evacuation centers in Albay province Wednesday after returning from a vacation in Hong Kong. Since the alert level at Mayon was raised to 3 last December 14, the provincial government had ordered forced evacuation of residents at the eight-kilometer danger zone. The alert level has been raised to 4 ever since as volcanologists predict an imminent eruption. During the meeting, President Arroyo also ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to initiate a food-for-work project to repair school buildings. Present at the NDCC meeting at Gogon Elementary School were secretaries Esperanza Cabral (DSWD), Peter Favila (Department of Trade and Industry), Defense Undersecretary Ernesto Carolina, and representatives from the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council. After the meeting, President Arroyo inspected a Navy warehouse and joined the distribution of relief goods. - KBK, GMANews.TV
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