Mayon evacuees receive DSWD food assistance as Alert Level 3 remains

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Field personnel of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Bicol region have started distributing boxes of food to residents displaced by the eruption of Mayon Volcano in Albay.

In a Facebook post on Friday evening, the DSWD said its regional field office handed out ready-to-eat food (RTEF) boxes to 123 families from Barangay Anoling, who are currently staying at the Tagaytay Elementary School in Camalig, Albay.

The DSWD earlier reported that it was targeting to distribute food aid to evacuees in the Barangays Anloling, Sua and Quirangay, all of which are in Camalig town and are located with Mayon's six-kilometer permanent danger zone.

As of 4 p.m., a total of 417,886 family food packs were on standby for distribution, along with 28,366 non-food items and 14,137 ready-to-eat food packs.

The DSWD also said its Social Welfare and Development (SWAD) team and disaster response management personnel have been dispatched to conduct profiling and to identify the needs of affected families.

Alert Level 3 remained in effect over Mayon Volcano on Saturday morning, a day after its moderately explosive eruption prompted the evacuation of communities within its six-kilometer permanent danger zone.

The Albay provincial government reported that over 2,000 individuals or about 746 families in Tabaco City, Camalig town, and Barangay Baligang in Ligao City have been evacuated as of 5 p.m. Friday.

The Provincial Health Office has distributed 22,000 surgical masks to health facilities, following concerns raised about the greater risks posed by ashfall to the respiratory system.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) reported that Mayon's eruption on Friday generated an ash plume that rose 3,000 meters above the crater.

On Saturday early morning, the monitored ash plume was logged at 200 meters.

Entry into the six-kilometer permanent danger zone remains banned. — VDV, GMA News