BY RHAYDZ B. BARCIA CORRESPONDENT

LEGAZPI CITY: Tens of thousands of Filipinos evacuated from the shadow of the Mayon Volcano that began spewing ash and lava prepared to head home on Saturday after the alert level was lowered.

After 21 days of staying in the congested evacuation camps in Albay, 93 percent of the 9,767 families, or 47,064 people, are now ordered to go home.

They were evacuated after the alert level was raised to 4 on a 5-point scale on December 20, signaling that a major volcanic eruption could be imminent. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) lowered the alert level of the Mayon Volcano on Saturday morning from Level 4 to alert Level 3.

“Definitely it is over . . . for now,” said Joey Salceda, governor of Albay province.

More than 46,000 people living some 7 kilometers to 8 kilometers around Mayon will be allowed to return home while over 3,000 who live in a 6-kilometer zone will have to remain in evacuation centers, Salceda said.

However, should the volcano’s restive condition shoot up once again, the evacuees will be hauled back to evacuation camps, Salceda said.

Phivolcs warned that the “overall state of unrest remains relatively high,” and that people should remain outside the 6-kilometer “permanent danger zone.”

“The situation could change and we could raise the alert level again. This is what happened in 2001 when Mayon paused for a long time and then resumed erupting,” said institute Director Renato Solidum.

Solidum warned there were still signs of magma rising in the volcano and that rocks, lava and volcanic ash already on the slopes could come crashing down in avalanches or mudslides.

An August 2006 eruption caused no immediate deaths but the following December, a passing typhoon unleashed an avalanche of volcanic mud from the mountain’s slopes that left 1,000 dead.

Salceda said all families leaving evacuation centers would be provided with food rations for three days and cash for home repairs.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council gave the evacuees 15 kilos of rice ration before they were sent back home on Saturday morning. They also received P1,400 cash. Another 25 kilos of rice from World Food Program will be distributed today.

Many evacuees were eager to leave, complaining that the evacuation centers—mainly government schools—did not have enough facilities or food supplies.

“Some bathrooms could not be used and the place was overcrowded. Sometimes the relief goods were not enough. We did not even get any food yesterday,” said Rosa Mantes, 20, whose parents have a farm in the foothills of Mayon.

“We wanted to go back earlier but the government really tightened the security in the danger zones,” she added.

Elba Bana, 60, said she was happy to go home but added: “We are always afraid, especially when the rain is strong and there may be lahar [a kind of volcanic mudflow]. If there is strong rain, then we may be evacuated again.”

Salceda said the evacuation had shown the country was well prepared in the case of a future eruption.
“We have proven already that we can easily bring them back to the evacuation centers,” he said.

Located about 330 kilometers southeast of Manila, Mayon has erupted 48 times in recorded history. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed when lava flows buried the town of Cagsawa.

Emergency classes
Meanwhile, students whose classes were disrupted because of the use of school classrooms as evacuation centers would be attending “emergency classes,” the Department of Education (DepEd) said.

The said classes will be held in the four schools being used as evacuation centers—Albay District, Albay Central School, Buyuan Elementary School and Matanag Elementary School.

Education Sec. Jesli Lapus said this was the part of the guidelines issued by the DepEd’s Legazpi City division, which ordered that emergency classes be held from noon to 6 p.m. starting Monday.

Classes will return to the normal schedule once the evacuees return to their own residences.
WITH REPORTS FROM AFP AND FRANCIS EARL A. CUETO