MANILA, Philippines – Over 9,000 individuals have been evacuated amid the continuing unrest of Mayon Volcano in Albay, Bicol, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Based on the NDRRMC’s situation report released on Saturday morning, June 10, a total of 9,314 people or 2,638 families have been evacuated due to the volcanic activity. The families are staying in 21 evacuation centers.

Six cities and municipalities and 21 barangays are currently affected by Mayon’s unrest. The cities and municipalities of Camalig, Daraga, Ligao, Malilipot, and Tabaco have announced class suspensions.

A total of P1,076,350 ($19,193.31) worth of assistance has already been provided to the affected population as of June 10, according to the NDRRMC. The province of Albay also remains under a state of calamity.

Mayon Volcano’s unrest also prompted the mandatory evacuation of residents of two barangays of Guinobatan, the Albay Provincial Information Office said in a Facebook post on Saturday.

Residents of barangays Maninila and Tandadora, who live along the portions of Sitio Basyaw and Muladbucad Grande, were temporarily relocated to Mauraro High School and Guinobatan Community College in Barangay Mauraro in the same town.

According to Albay’s public information office, the said barangays are within the 6-kilometer permanent danger zone and the 7-kilometer extended danger zone.

In Ligao City, less than an hour away from Guinobatan, the local government had already implemented preemptive evacuation in Barangay Baligang on Friday, June 9.

On Saturday, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian visited evacuation centers in the affected province. Gatchalian also convened the mayors of nine local government units currently or may be affected by the unrest.

“We are ready to handle all potential calamities. We want to make sure that we maximize our resources by ensuring that DSWD and the provincial local government unit of Albay complement each other and that there is no redundancy of services,” Gatchalian said.

On June 8, state volcanologists placed Mayon Volcano under Alert Level 3 – just three days after being placed under Alert Level 2. Alert Level 3 means there is an “increased tendency towards a hazardous eruption.”

Since February, Mayon’s southeastern middle and upper slopes have been swollen. – Rappler.com

$1 = P56.08