More Mayon evacuees going home

LEGAZPI CITY — More than 3,000 Albay villagers, who had to evacuate when volcanologists raised alert level four around Mayon Volcano, are finally returning home.

This, after local disaster management officials agreed to modify their evacuation criteria after volcanologists informed them that Mayon no longer poses any danger after eight weeks of extruding lava.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) may lower Mayon’s alert level from four to three anytime next week.

Cedric Daep, provincial disaster management chief, said more than 3,000 evacuees from Barangays Sua and Tumpa in Camalig town, and Lidong, Sta. Misericordia and Fidel Surtida in Sto. Domingo town, will be sent home.

Over 1,000 villagers were earlier brought back to their communities, which are located outside the permanent danger zone.

In its bulletin yesterday, Phivolcs said Mayon still showed "an elevated state of unrest," adding though that ground swelling and absence of any explosion in the past days "may indicate a slowdown in its activity." — Cet Dematera