On June 19, 2024, the community of La Castellana in Negros Occidental received a gesture of solidarity from ARCORES Philippines, the University of San Jose-Recoletos-Center for Recollect Community Engagement and Social Involvement (USJR-CRCESI) and the San Nicolas de Tolentino Parish of Talisay City. These groups came together to deliver sacks of rice, boxes of canned goods, noodles, hygiene kits, masks and packets of toilet paper to victims of the recent eruption of Mount Kanlaon.
Negros Island’s only active volcano erupted last June 3, and in just two days, lahars (pyroclastic mud) flowed into seven barangays in La Castellana, forcing the evacuation of at least 3,255 people according to Castellana’s Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO).
One of the main shelters for the evacuees was located in the St. Louis St. Vincent’s High School (SVHS), adjacent to St. Louis Vincent Ferrer Parish-Shrine. This center hosted 171 families, composed of 580 people, many of them from the severely affected Barangay Cabagnaan. Fr. Ricon B. Dagunan, SVHS pastor and principal, said that all classrooms, including those of the senior high school, were opened to receive the victims since the night of June 5, when local authorities ordered evacuation due to dangerous mudflow.
Among the evacuees, 188 were children between the ages of 2 and 12, and incidents of diarrhea and fever and strokes were reported. Fr. Ricon expects that evacuees will be able to gradually return to their homes over the next week, once the volcanic alert level is reduced from the current Level 2. The next priority, as discussed with Fr. Rouel Sia, president of ARCORES Philippines and director of USJR-CRCESI, will be helping those affected to rebuild their livelihoods and homes, as many have lost their livestock and crops, which were almost ready for harvest.
Fr. Ricon, together with Fr. Romel Enar, assistant priest and chaplain of SVHS, expressed his deep gratitude to the Augustinian Recollect Community for their solidarity in these difficult times.
Mystic Kanlaon
It is curious how the 2,465-meter-high Mount Kanlaon has recorded phreatic eruptions on June 3 on three separate occasions: 1986, 2006 and 2024. However, this year’s eruption surprised the inhabitants of La Castellana without warning.
The parishioners came from the Holy Cross which culminated our Flores de Mayo activities recalled Fr. Ricon, reflecting the unexpected and challenging situation they had to face.