News and UpdatesIn the NewsUnscrupulous traders prey on Canlaon farmers

Unscrupulous traders prey on Canlaon farmers

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Livestock traders taking advantage of the unrest caused by Mt. Kanlaon’s activity in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental, have been banned from entering the City, an official announced on Thursday.

Edna Lhou Masicampo, the City’s designated information officer, said the decision followed a meeting between Mayor Jose Chubasco Cardenas and about 45 internally displaced persons who reported being forced to sell their livestock at unfairly low prices.

The evacuees claimed the traders, known locally as compradors, intercepted them at border checkpoints on Wednesday, bypassing the City’s designated stockyard and auction market.

The IDPs, allowed to return briefly to their farms after Task Force Kanlaon lifted the entry ban on the six-kilometer Permanent Danger Zone, were caught off guard as traders awaited them at the borders.

Fear of a potential major eruption left the farmers with no choice but to sell their livestock at lower prices.

Reports revealed that cows worth P35,000 to P40,000 each were sold for only P25,000; while goats valued at P6,000 each were sold for only P3,000.

Mayor Cardenas has directed the police and the Municipal Agriculture Office to investigate the incident, which led to the identification of the traders, Masicampo said.

Meanwhile, Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno, Office of Civil Defense administrator, in a meeting with the Mayor, urged to fast-track the construction of an evacuation center that can accommodate the IDPs under one roof, instead of scattering them at different camps.

Masicampo said the proposal needs the help of the provincial government as it would be costly to build an evacuation without external help.

Currently, 1,299 families and 4,186 individuals live in eight evacuation centers, while 728 families or 2,287 individuals are staying with relatives outside of the Permanent Danger Zone.

Meanwhile , Mt. Kanlaon has recorded more than 100 minor eruptions, or ash emissions, since October last year, according to an official from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology & Seismology.

Mariton Bornas, head of Phivolcs’ Volcano Monitoring & Eruption Prediction Division, reported on Thursday that 117 ash emissions have occurred since Oct. 19.

“In volcanology, these ash emissions are technically classified as minor eruptions, as an eruption involves the release of volcanic materials from a crater,” Bornas said.

She said that if Mt. Kanlaon’s unrest intensifies, it would be categorized as one extended eruptive series beginning June 3, featuring multiple eruptive phases.

These may include individual events such as lava flows, lava fountaining, or, in the worst case, an explosive eruption.

Unlike Mayon Volcano, which had a major eruption within two weeks of initial activity, Mt. Kanlaon’s unrest has been drawn out, displaying signs of a potential major eruption for nearly two years, Bornas said.

While these minor events are precursors to a larger eruption, the timing and nature of the main eruptive period remain unpredictable.

Phivolcs continues to closely monitor the situation.

On Thursday, the Negros Oriental Provincial Disaster Risk-Reduction & Management Office captured video footage of Mt. Kanlaon emitting ash around 9 a.m. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)

 

 

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