World Vision: Over 8,000 families affected by Mt. Kanlaon eruption need help

PHOTO: Lahar has affected rivers and water sources near Mt Kanlaon.

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World Vision, a faith-based organization that aids children in vulnerable circumstances, is urgently calling for help for over 8,479 families and 4,751 individuals displaced by the eruption of Mt Kanlaon.

Two municipalities in the Negros region have been declared in a state of calamity. While local government units have already provided affected families with food and other essential items, residents of the municipality of La Castellana and the city of Canlaon are in dire need of drinking water.  

“Lahar has affected our rivers and other water sources. Families here in World Vision communities are now buying water for drinking and other essentials. In other communities, livelihoods have been affected. Fish are dead, and some agricultural lands like rice and cane fields were covered by ashfall,” said World Vision Program Officer, Vincent Mallillin. 

Local government agencies have suspended work except for essential services, and are already utilizing its emergency fund to help affected communities.

World Vision continues to monitor the situation. The organization has around 2,000 assisted children in the province of Negros Occidental, east of the Philippines. The World Vision community is just 24 kilometers from Mt. Kanlaon. 

Mt. Kanlaon erupted last June 3, around 6 PM, and spewed coarse ashfalls that affected nearby communities. PHIVOLCS maintains Alert Level 2, which means there is “current unrest driven by shallow magmatic processes that could eventually lead to further explosive eruptions or even precede hazardous magmatic eruptions.”