DSWD sends over 50,000 food packs amid Mayon unrest

MANILA, June 17 ----- The Department of Social Welfare and Development has distributed more than 50,000 food packs in Albay, which was placed under a state of calamity due to the threat of an eruption of Mayon Volcano.

Speaking to ANC Monday, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said the agency has provided 38,000 food boxes to 9 local government units and 15,000 other food packs to the provincial government. The food provision is worth for 15 days, he added. Inside them are 6 kilos of rice, 9 canned goods, coffee, and ready-to-eat oatmeal. Gatchalian disclosed that the government is also considering giving cash subsidies should the volcano’s unrest exceed 45 days.

Around 13,000 people living near Mayon Volcano have moved to evacuation centers as ash and toxic gases spewed from the rumbling crater. Lava or red-hot rocks started falling from Mayon before 8 p.m. on Sunday and flowed down 500 to 1,000 meters from the summit, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said. A 5-step alert system for the volcano was raised to 3 from 2 last Thursday, with authorities warning of possible respiratory illnesses from inhaling fumes. Alert 3 means the volcano "is currently in a relatively high level of unrest as magma is at the crater and hazardous eruption is possible within weeks or even days," Phivolcs said.

Earthquakes and volcanic activity are common in the Philippines due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide. Five years ago, Mayon displaced tens of thousands of people after spewing millions of tons of ash, rocks and lava. The country's most powerful eruption in recent decades was Mount Pinatubo in 1991 that killed more than 800 people. That disaster produced an ash cloud that travelled thousands of kilometers.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com