By Glazyl M. Jopson
BACOLOD CITY – A total of 2,349 families displaced by the Kanlaon Volcano eruptions in Negros Island received PHP11.7 million in financial assistance last week.
In Canlaon City, Negros Oriental, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-7 distributed PHP5,000 each to 1,455 families under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) program. These families remain in evacuation centers.
Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) Undersecretary Terence Calatrava joined DOLE-7 Assistant Regional Director Emmanuel Ferrer and Mayor Jose Chubasco Cardenas in the aid distribution on March 10.
The beneficiaries are displaced farmers severely affected by the June 3 and Dec. 9, 2024, eruptions. They received a total of PHP7.27 million in financial aid.
They were also provided opportunities to explore alternative livelihood options, such as declogging canals, cleaning ash deposits, and environmental management, to compensate for the loss of agriculture, their primary source of income.
An additional 645 beneficiaries are currently being profiled to determine their eligibility for the DOLE program.
Aside from the DOLE assistance, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) provided PHP5,000 each to 835 evacuees, amounting to PHP4.17 million, on March 12, according to city public information officer Edna Lhou Masicampo.
Masicampo said 2,290 evacuees received aid last week, totaling PHP11.45 million. She said the financial assistance would help displaced families meet their daily needs.
She added that 695 evacuees who recently moved in with relatives outside evacuation centers will be included in the next batch of TUPAD recipients from DOLE.
Meanwhile, 59 households from Barangay Cod-cod, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, also received PHP5,000 each, totaling PHP295,000, from DSWD-6 under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program on March 13.
The beneficiaries, from Sitios Apog-apog and Nagalao, have been temporarily sheltered in the barangay covered court since Dec. 13, 2024, following the Dec. 9 eruption.
Among the recipients was 67-year-old farmer Pablito Tampepe of Sitio Apog-apog, who said he plans to use the aid to purchase necessities for his family. He thanked the government for its support.
Given the ongoing situation with Mt. Kanlaon, affected families will continue receiving aid from the DSWD every three months.
AICS is a social welfare program that provides financial support for medical, burial, transportation, education, food, and other essential needs of individuals and families in crisis.
Two months ago, some households in San Carlos City also received PHP10,000 worth of food assistance from the DSWD.
